Delegating is not an easy task for the project manager but never do anything that someone else can do for you, as well or better. Delegation begins by determining all the tasks that must be performed to reach your project’s goals. Then select the individual or individuals best qualified to handle each duty and empower them to do it. Finaly, check results regularly to make sure the productivity goals you have set are being reached or surpassed.

            Why people don’t delegate –these are the excuses some european project managers give for not delegating: My team members lack the experience, says J. M. Devesa (project leader of G.E. at Spain); it takes more time to explain than to do the job myself, a mistake by a team member could be costly for my project, my position enables me to get quicker action, there are some things that I shouldn’t delegate to anyone, my team members are specialists and they lack the overall knowledge that many decisions require. Other comments gathered after talking to project professionals from the south of Europe were: my people are already too busy, my team members just aren’t ready to accept more responsibility, I am concerned about lack of control over people performance when I delegate, I like keeping busy and making my own decisions, delegating is terryfying to me.

            Is it a problem of insecurity? I believe that the most common reason for failure to delegate is deep insecurity. This self-defeating attitude influences how you accept and recognize the performance of those who work under you.

            If this is your problem, ask yourself these questions: Is my team member really after my job? Am I afraid he/she will do the work better than I can? Am I afraid to give him/her either over praise or more authority because I fear he will replace me?    If this is your attitude, it’s holding you back. Failing to share authority and responsibility may protect your immediate status at the expense of an opportunity to move up. Delegating some of your authority only makes your work easier.

            When you delegate, don’t think of it as doing the other person a favor. The use of effective delegation will pay off for you, as project manager and your organization in many ways. You will mobilize resources to achieve more results than you ever thought possible. You will have more time to manage your project, like planning, monitoring team members, and handling conflicts and personnel problems, that no one else can do. You will focus on doing a few tasks very well, rather than doing a lot rather poorly.

            You will increase your managerial potential. You will have someone trained to succeed you, so you will not be shackled to one particular area. The organization benefits in many ways. Output goes up, project work may be completed more efficiently, and team members feel free to offer new ideas and suggestions to improve the operation of the company. Decision-making is improved, so the organization becomes more responsive and thus more competitive in the marketplace.

            There is more to delegating than saying, “Do what I tell you to do”. It is entrusting the matter to the other person. It involves mutual commitment. The person to whom you are delegating makes a commitment to meet your expectations. For you, it means a commitment to give staff full cooperation, backing, and recognition. I suggest following four steps for effective delegation: 1. Define the purpose and importance of the project, together with its deadline and the scope of the delegatee’s responsibility. The responsibility for clarification lies with you. Don’t expect your team members to ask enough questions to clarify this. If possible, get your team members to set their own deadlines. It is usually more effective to delegate a whole job. People feel a greater sense of responsibility when handling an entire job.

            2. Provide the necessary authority, resources and support. Make sure your team member has the authority needed to complete the task. Otherwise, the staffer’s requests to others for help and information may be ignored because they don’t come from you.

            3. Delegate for results. The key here is accountability; setting standards and making sure staffers know they are responsible for meeting those standards. When a problem arises, don’t second-guess your staffer by making a decision over his head. Use the opportunity to show him or her how to handle it.

            4. Review progress and follow up. Setting deadlines and enforcing them establish a commitment, ensuring their decisions are made promptly and tasks are handled with dispatch.

            Slowly reduce supervision. On a first assignment, give the person as much supervision as you feel is required. Reduce it on the second assignment if the person was quick and efficient in completing the first task. This will save you time and increase the abilities of the person handling the task. Encourage all who work for you to increase their duties and responsibilities.

            Watch out!  Once you have assigned a task, don’t be manipulated into relieving the subordinate of the responsibility for taking the next step. Here is how that can work: Barry meets you in the hallway and says, “Alfonso, we have got a problem….”. Say the wrong thing, such as “Let me get back to you in an hour”, and Barry has put the weight back on your shoulders. Instead, see to it that the next move is his. “You are right. There is a problem. Give me a call tomorrow and tell me how it should be handled”.

            Selecting the right persons: one of the most crucial step is selecting the right person for jobs. You have to consider factors such as: Friction (disagreement between you and the person taking the assignment is healthy while the assignment is being made. It is only a problem if it extends into the execution stage); Track record (match the job to the person. Past performance is significant only as it realtes to the job you are delegating); Location (don’t delegate just because someone is close by and covenient to use, or may be just not busy); Organization level (if you want to delegate a job to someone several levels down in the organization, first confer with his or her supervisors and explain the situation. It will make the delegation smoother); Compatibility (ideally, the styles of both persons involved are complementary).

            To get delegating to work, the persons to whom you delegate must have trust in you. Talk is not enough to create this. Be open with your people. Don’t try to hide your errors. Provide any information about the organization that would be helpful. As you are working with your team members, clarify their expectations so they know in advance what is expected of them. Treat them with courtesy and respect.

            As a project manager, one of your most important jobs is communicating while delegating. Effective delegation demands effective communication. Without it, assignments are blurred, deadlines are vague, and results are predictably poor. Communications calls for mutual consultation and agreement between the manager and team members. It calls, too, for you to solicit team members’ reactions and ideas throughout the process.

            Start by telling team members very clearly what they are being asked to do. Evoke a feeling of obligation and commitment within team members, and then establish a system to reward outstanding performances. During the communicating process, focus on results rather than ways to accomplish the task. That way, team members will learn more, take more initiative, and have greater enthusiasm for the task.

            As a follow-up to any assignment, you should apparaise the completed task and discuss your evaluation with the team member. This should provide insight for both of you, showing how each performed, as well as suggesting how you worked together as a team. My suggestion at this time is ask yourself two questions: was the task completed as intended in a timely manner?  What could be done to delegate such as a task better in the future?

            Discuss your evaluation of their work with team members. This should be a two-way exchange of perceptions and feedback on each other’s work style. You need to give your team members positive and negative comments so team members will understand what they are doing well and where they need to improve.

            If you want a team’s exceptional performance to continue, recognize and reward it. This is a simple, fundamental rule of management. The word “thank you” has a cost of “zero dollars”.

Related Links
Use our Personal Time Management Log to assess honestly whether you're spending your time on the most value-added activities -- and what you might need to delegate to others. (Some of those weekly meetings, maybe?) Steve Trautman's tips for bringing new team members up to speed quickly can also be used as a model for making sure you've handed off everything necessary when you delegate a project chunk. Geof Lory has dedicated several articles to building trust among team members.

Comments

Well said, Alfonso, and an excellent reminder that the team is only as strong as its weakest (or most overloaded) link.

Speaking for myself, it's not insecurity that drives the failure to delegate as much as the perceived efficiency of "just getting it done." Sure, I could explain it to someone else and pass it on, but then I'd have to document everything I want, write it all down, discuss the requirements ... It's the classic "teach a man to fish" conundrum; the instant gratification of finishing something up trumps the long-term gains of having someone else well equipped to take over or back me up, or to be available when I'm not. (Not to mention the fact that I'm not always the best person to do it!)

Short-sighted thinking, but common and easy to succumb to. Thanks for the reminder.