In order for most supervisors or managers to accomplish all their activities, it is essential that they delegate some of their work to subordinates.

Yet many managers are afraid to delegate.

Craig&8217;s fear is that if a subordinate does too good a job, he or she will be a threat to him.

&8220;If the boss sees that one of my people can do what I do, my job may be in jeopardy.&8221;

Linda&8217;s fear is more common.

&8220;If my subordinate messes up the assignment, I will be the one held responsible.&8221;

Building Self-Confidence

Craig&8217;s problem is a lack of self-confidence.

Although there have been situations where a manager has been replaced by a lower salaried subordinate, it usually has not been primarily due to this type of situation.

As a matter of fact, the opposite is more usual.

Most companies consider how effectively managers build up the capabilities of their people in evaluating their management skills.

By becoming as proficient as he can in his job, Craig will earn the respect of his supervisors and, because he knows he is good at his work, will build his self-confidence.

By making his people more effective in their work, he will be able to accomplish more in those aspects of the job that are of greater importance than those he has delegated to his subordinates.

Linda&8217;s problem is different.

All managers are help accountable for the work of their subordinates.

In order for her to be assured that the work she has delegated to others is done correctly and on schedule, she should follow the five elements of good delegation.

The Delegatee Musts Be Capable Of Doing The Job

A manager should know the abilities of each of his or her people.

To delegate an assignment to one who is not able to do it properly dooms it to failure.

If you do not have anybody who is capable, you have no choice but to do it yourself.

If this should be the case, your highest priority should be to train somebody to be able to handle this, so that the next time there is a need to delegate, you have a capable person for the assignment.

It must be understood.

This appears to be self-evident, but it isn&8217;t.

You give detailed instructions to a subordinate.

When completed, what is your inevitable question?

&8220;Do you understand?&8221;

What is the inevitable answer?

&8220;Sure.&8221;

Why did that person say Sure?

Perhaps the person really did understand; or perhaps he didn&8217;t understand at all, but was too embarrassed to tell you.

Instead of asking &8220;Do you understand?&8221;

Which really gives little feedback, say &8220;Tell me what you are going to do.&8221;

The response to this will give you more meaningful feedback.

If it is demonstrable, ask for a demonstration:

&8220;Show me how you will enter this data into the computer.&8221;

Not only must the instruction be understood, the subordinate must accept it.

You give a project to Cindy with the instruction that is must be completed by 3:30 this afternoon.

Cindy looks at the amount or work required and says to herself; &8220;No way.&8221;

There&8217;s not much of a chance you will have it by 3:30.

In order to gain her acceptance, tell her why it is important and ask her when she can complete it.

By bringing Cindy into the picture, to obtain her communication to complete the project when needed.

Set Control Points

This is your guarantee that the assignment will be performed correctly and on time.

Control points are set at places where you can check the progress of the assignment and if anything has gone wrong, it can be corrected before it goes too far.

Control points are not surprise inspections.

The subordinate knows when they will occur and what is expected at that point.

You give Ted an assignment on Monday that must be completed by Friday.

You tell Ted;

&8220;We will meet tomorrow at 4 PM to discuss the project.

By that time you should have completed Parts A and B.&8221;

If at that time you uncover errors, they can be corrected before it continues.

Another advantage of control points is that if Ted realizes at 11 AM that he will not be able to complete Part B by the 4 PM control point, he can ask for help early enough to keep the project from falling behind schedule.

Give The Delegatee The Tools To Get The Job Done

In Elizabeth&8217;s company, computer time is always at a premium.

When she delegated a project to one of her people, she neglected to arrange for computer time.

As a result the entire project bogged down.

Elizabeth had the to assure that her subordinates had everything needed to do the job.

By failing to do so, she doomed the project to failure.

Another type of &8220;tool&8221; the subordinate should be given is the authority needed to accomplish the mission.

Steven was instructed to meet a tight deadline on the project.

To do this it was necessary to work overtime, but Steven was not given the authority to order overtime work.

This delayed completion of the project and resulted in missing the deadline.

When You Delegate, You Do Not Abdicate

Managers should be available to help their people if needed.

When Dean assigned a new project to Stephanie, he told her:

&8220;I&8217;m here to help you.

If you have any problems, don&8217;t hesitate to bring them to me.&8221;

Stephanie took this literally and instead of trying to deal with her problems, she brought them to Dean.

This not only took an inordinate amount of Dean&8217;s time, but also did not help develop Stephanie&8217;s skills.

Next time Dean delegated a project to one of his people, he again noted his availability to help them, but added:

&8220;Bring me your problems, but bring with them a suggested solution.&8221;

This encouraged them to think about the situation and come to their own conclusions.

Dean would rather have them ask them:

&8220;Do you think this will work?&8221; rather than &8220;What should I do?&8221;

By following these five elements of good delegation, you will accomplish more yourself because your people will be doing those things which are more suited for subordinates to do, freeing you for more significant work.

You will also be accomplishing one of the most important roles of a manager – building up the capabilities of your staff.

Delegation is one of the best means of giving people the experience so important to their own development.

John Moser is CEO of the Moser Group, Inc. He can be reached at 980-6131 ext. 315 or by e-mail at mailto:jmoser@mosergroup.ne