Resources/Five Elements of Good Delegation
- Be sure that the person you choose for the assignment is capable of doing the work. You know the abilities of each of your team members. When you plan assignments, take into consideration which person can do a job most effectively.
- Make sure that your instructions are not only understood but also accepted. Asking the question “Do you understand?” is meaningless. Instead, ask “What are you going to do?”. If a team member’s response indicates that one or more of your points is not clear, you can correct it before he or she does something wrong.
- Set control points. A control point is a key area in a project where you stop, examine what has been completed and, if errors have been made, correct them. In this way, you can catch errors before they blow up into catastrophes.
- Give your associate the tools and authority to get the job done. You cannot do a job without the proper tools or the authority to do what needs to be done. Providing resources is obvious, but giving authority is another story. If you want a job to be done without having to micromanage it, you must give the person who is doing the job the power to make decisions.
- When you delegate, do not abdicate. Staff members have questions, seek advice and need your help. Be there for them but do not let them throw the entire project back at you. Let them know that you are available to help, to advise and to support but not to do their work.