How to Delegate Workplace Responsibility as a Manager

One of the most important skills you can have as a manager is understanding the best way to delegate work tasks effectively. Having a good handle on how to efficiently delegate responsibilities at work is integral to ensuring your team’s overall success while also contributing to employee growth.

To improve your delegating abilities as a manager or supervisor, take a glance at the important steps involved in this process that are listed below.

Evaluate the everyday tasks that typically need to be completed that aren’t already listed as core employee responsibilities. Everything from replacing printer toner cartridges to conducting standard labor tracking tasks should be taken into consideration.

Organize the responsibilities into groups of what must be kept within management and what can be delegated out without violating any concerns such as confidentiality worries or causing interruptions or delays in other management tasks.

Take stock of the responsibilities you have noted in the second list and divide it further based upon the sorts of skills that would be required to complete them.

Go over your current staff and determine what sorts of strengths and skills each team member has. In addition to evaluating what sort of professional qualities each employee may have that sets him or her apart from the others, take into consideration ambition, integrity and willingness.

Employees who lack one or more of those three qualities may not be ready to receive additional responsibilities and opportunities on top of their current workload.

Determine what your objective is when it comes to delegating some of your management responsibilities. Are you looking to train an employee who can be promoted into a position of equal or similar authority? Are you considering a replacement for you or another member of management?

Are you focused on lowering management’s everyday workload when it comes to certain tasks to free up time for more important issues? Keep in mind these goals and consider how you can better reach them.

Select the people you want to delegate additional responsibility to. You will want to empower them with knowledge, your trust and the opportunity to use the skills they gain to advance themselves within your business and as an individual.

As a part of empowering your selected employees, you will need to provide them with the tools to succeed. Make sure each employee in properly trained in the additional task or tasks you assign to him or her. Provide plenty of guidance and coaching and be willing to answer questions and provide insight during the learning process.

Make yourself available for additional questions and assistance after your employees begin to fully take over the tasks you have delegated to them.

Make sure you maintain a clear vision of the chain of authority even after empowering your employees to assist management with standard tasks. Ensure that employees remain aware of who their direct supervisors are and encourage them to still follow the chain of command when it comes to receiving direction or guidance.

Observe each employee and the progress that is made over time. Offer constructive criticism, positive reinforcement and other forms of feedback as employees go through the process of learning how to take on the additional tasks you have offered them.

Evaluate your team’s progress overall and determine whether you have met or shortened the distance to the objective you noted earlier on.

If you are yet to meet your objective, see what changes you can make and go through the process once more. If your objective has been met, determine whether you should pursue a new objective and additional changes with the advances you have made in your workplace productivity through employee empowerment.

By keeping the listed steps in mind, you can improve your management skills and make your workplace more efficient by delegating responsibilities.