by Dan Monaghan

Created on: December 03, 2008

As a manager, you know delegation is a good idea. In fact it's extremely difficult, if not impossible, to give solid reasons why delegation is a bad idea. Yet most people who should be delegating, don't. Why not? I have been fortunate in my life to work for some very successful people and they all had some things in common, but one quality they all had in common was the ability and willingness to delegate. If you need convincing, I have compiled a list of delegation benefits below to make my case:

1- IT FREES UP YOUR TIME- When you do everything you are not able to dedicate the proper amount of time to the items that demand more attention. A task may suddenly require some additional time to complete but you have several more projects to attend to before the day ends so you are forced to cut yourself short. The end result could be disastrous. When you delegate tasks, it frees up your time to attend to the important and the unexpected.

2- IT IS MOTIVATIONAL- Your top employees appreciate the opportunity to grow and make themselves promotable. When you delegate important tasks it sends the message that you trust your people and you know that they will carry out the job they have been given to a positive outcome. When you show trust, it builds self esteem. When someone's self esteem increases, their confidence increases and they perform at a higher level. In the end, you benefit.

3- IT REDUCES STRESS- Granted, at first, you may have a bit more stress as your people learn new tasks and struggle through the occasional pitfall. But eventually they will get the hang of it and you will be able to feel the stress and anxiety melt away. After all, instead of doing it all yourself, you have to merely check it over which is much less stress. Additionally, by developing competent staff you can relax on your time off instead of worrying about what is happening while you're not there.

4- IT ALLOWS YOU OPPORTUNITY- While not always the case, frequently you can't move up unless you train your replacement. It would be tragic to work hard and get offered a promotion only to be denied when management discovers you have not groomed your successor.

Delegation is difficult because most of us are afraid to lose control. We know that we can get the job done, not only well, but efficiently. It makes little sense to us to take the time to show someone else how to do the job when we are perfectly capable of doing it ourselves. We may even truly enjoy the various tasks that make up the job. However, it is important to remember that a primary responsibility of any manager is to develop the people around him to step in if the need arises. Indeed, the company may insist that you do so. No company wants to be caught short of potential leaders when unforeseen circumstances arise.

Finally, if you are not sure what to delegate, ask yourself this question-Is there someone here who can do this job besides me? If the answer is yes, and in most cases it will be, find them and work with them. It just might be the first step to a more successful and less stressful career.

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