One of the perks of being in a supervisory or management position is the ability to delegate tasks to subordinates. But delegation isn’t as simple as handing out tasks and washing your hands of the assignment.
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When delegating to subordinates, it’s important to identify the appropriate tasks that can be delegated; to keep in mind that while you can delegate authority, you cannot delegate responsibility; and to regularly review the delegation arrangement with subordinates to see if any adjustments need to be made.
Here, we’ll look first at identifying those tasks that are appropriate for delegation.
No Need for Active Participation
As much as we would like to shed the chore, we all know there are some activities that simply require our active participation, either because they are high-profile, we have specific insight or experience, or whatever reason. These activities are not great candidates for delegation, as you will likely need to stay fairly closely involved anyway.
Not Likely to Require Escalation for Permission
Delegation should be done in situations where your subordinate has the authority to make judgment calls. We’ll discuss this in more detail in our next post on this topic. But in general, you don’t want to have employees feeling the need to come to you every time a decision needs to be made. This can be less efficient than if you had never delegated the task in the first place.
Learning Opportunity
A great side benefit of delegating work to subordinates is that it gives them the opportunity to learn and grow. While this doesn’t necessarily need to be the primary motivation for delegating work, it should be a consideration. Look for tasks that fit in with the larger plan for the employees’ professional development.
One of the perks—indeed, one of the responsibilities—of being a manager is delegating tasks to subordinates. For many new managers in particular, it can be difficult to know what, how, or when to delegate.
Here, we’ve looked at some basic tips for identifying the types of tasks to delegate. In a future post, we’ll discuss the important distinction between delegating authority and delegating responsibility, and finally, we’ll discuss the process for reviewing and revising assignments you’ve delegated.