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Newsletter -April 2011
Get the monkey off your back - delegate
If you manage people, its likely that yousometimes feel that you are carrying the load for your entireteam, as opposed to getting on with your own job.
Effective delegation canget the monkey off your back.
Use your team to best effect
As manager, youwere appointed to a specific role for which you had, or could develop, the capabilityto perform. It is not in your own, oryour organisation's interest, for you to be doing anything other thanthose things that only you have the capability and the authority to do. So you need to delegate any task that doesn't require your capability and authority to complete.
Equally, you want each of your team to be to be using their capability to the fullest extent. So in delegating tasks, make sure each of your team is also being utilised to the highest level of their capabilities.
Develop the capability of your team members
Delegation also presents an opportunity to realise the potential of each of your team members i.e. to lift their individual capabilities. Delegating them new tasks that stretch them and expose them to new experiences, lifts the capability, not just of the individual, but of the whole team.
Effective Delegation
There are three basic steps to effective delegation:
1. Matching the task with team members capable (or potentially capable) of completing it.
2. Choosing the best team member to optimise the capability of the whole team.
3. Supporting the chosen team member with authority, resources and coaching as necessary.
Factors to consider in delegatingare
- Whatknowledge and skill are required to complete the task?
- What resources are required to complete the task?
- Which team members could be assigned the authority to complete the task?
- Which team members have done the same or a similar task before?
- Which team members are capable of learning to do the task and what coaching would be required?
- Which team members would most develop through learning the task and how would that benefitoverall team capability?
- How does thedeadline for completion of the task affectthe existing priorities of team members?
Focus on doing the things only you can do and build the capability of the team at the same time - delegate effectively at every opportunity.
Get the monkey off your back!
To learn more about effective people management skills go to:
www.developmentinpractice.com/solutions/performance-management.html
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