Why should leaders delegate?

Delegation is one of the most important management skills for leaders. The benefits are huge, both for the leader, for staff, and for the organization. We’ve created a short delegation cheatsheet or helpcard where we’ve outlined the purposes, and benefits of delegation in addition to teaching you how to do it properly.

Here’s a section from the help card that maps out some of the benefits (there are others, too).

• Save Managerial Time: Managers and supervisors are often over-worked. Many managers are expected to manage and lead their staff in ADDITION to carrying out non-managerial or other regular job related functions. The result is overwork. Managers become swamped and overwhelmed. Things fall through the cracks. Delegation is a way of “creating more time” for managers, so they can continue to do what they and they alone can do best — managing tasks, jobs and personnel.
• Use Best People For A Task: It’s tempting for a manager to believe that he or she can do every job or task as well or better than line employees. That’s not true, and it’s a belief that leads to disaster. We all have strengths and weaknesses, and it’s unreasonable for a manager to try to do everything. By using the right employees to do tasks that can be delegated, the manager can minimize his or her weaknesses, focus on his or her strengths, and, make best use of the strengths of employees.
• Develop Employees: Delegating tasks to employees allows them to grow and become better and more productive employees. Delegation is an effective way of encouraging staff to develop new skills, particularly if the manager delegates tasks that require them to learn. The result is employees with a broader set of skills than before. A side benefit is that delegation (and the employee development that results) prepares employees for promotion AND creates a skill base so that if the manager is not available, an employee can step in to make decisions.
• Engage/Motivate Employees: Employees who are involved or engaged in their jobs tend to be better contributors. Delegation helps staff members become more engaged because they are exposed to new challenges, a chance to learn, and understand that their manager trusts them to succeed at the delegated tasks.

In addition delegation shows you trust your people. When you trust others, they tend to trust you.

For more help with delegation, check out Delegation For Managers Helpcard. You can find more information about this learning tool and get your free preview by clicking here