3 Tips to Help You Master the Art of Delegation

Most of us have had a boss who just doesn’t quite get what delegating is all about. They might just give you menial tasks that neither of you care about, or refuse to assign you anything because they don’t trust you to get it done correctly.

Are you new to the managing world? Or are you a seasoned pro looking to improve your delegation skills? Either way, here are three tips to help you master the art of delegation!

It’s not about handing off tasks to people you don’t like.

Every workplace has that one tedious task that takes forever to complete, and is generally reviled among all employees. If you have that task on your plate, don’t just hand it off to someone who made you angry the day before. That won’t repair the relationship, and it puts you at risk of either losing an employee or having the task not done correctly. Instead, always remain neutral to conflicts in the office, and make sure that the tasks you are giving out make sense to give out – that is, you’re giving tasks to people that you think can do the job well.

It’s not about how it gets done, it’s about whether it gets done.

Sometimes we forget that everyone has a different way of getting things done. For example, if you’re writing a paper, you might prefer to write it beginning-middle-end, but others might write middle-beginning-end. Neither way is incorrect, because your end result is the same – a completed paper! If your employees do a task differently than you do, but they’re not taking an absurd amount of time doing the task, then let them do their thing. You’ll find they’re much happier completing the task, because their process makes the most sense to them.

Who is the best fit for these tasks?

This seems obvious, but tasks are completed faster when the right person is picked for the job – and when people like the work they’re doing. Every one of your employees has a specific skillset and certain tasks are best suited to their skills. Need someone to follow up with a client via a phone call? Ask someone who’s familiar with the client and who has an extroverted personality! Need someone to fix your website? Ask your tech guru! You hired them for a reason – use their skills. Chances are, the tech guru will enjoy fixing the website, and it’ll save you a big headache if your HTML skills are rusty.

Delegation is an art, but it just takes a little practice. Once you’ve gotten the hang of these three steps, you’ll become a delegating pro in no time!