Why Delegating is Important but Difficult

In the modern business environment that we have today, delegating is especially important as a manager because you can’t do everything by yourself. Delegating not only improves organizational efficiency, but also builds trust between team members, and helps with their professional development.

Needless to say, delegating also helps you, the manager, by exposing you to opportunities to understand your team members and identify who is best suited to be assigned to a specific task or train employees on areas they are lacking skills in. Being able to properly delegate tasks to the right people can help you achieve your goals faster, giving you more time to develop your leadership skills and set up even higher goals to reach.

While the most obvious benefit of delegating tasks is organizational efficiency and lightening up your workload, it really does much more than give you more time and your employees something to do. Through delegation, you can give your team more confidence, making them feel important and letting them show what they are capable of.

Delegation can improve your team member’s appreciation of work, giving value to their achievements, which could encourage them to continue working honestly, consistently and become more committed in reaching their goals. Doing this also helps you keep your best employees motivated and loyal, decreasing the risk that they will start looking for jobs outside the company.

As you become more efficient in delegation, you can also observe that the communication barrier between you and your team will be reduced. This allows the team members to be able to easily share their creative or unique ideas to improve the project or task. This drives innovation which is much needed in the very competitive market that we have today.

In addition, explaining tasks and sharing ideas together could also improve the relationship between the team members themselves. Team members would also have authority and accountability during delegation. They would then have a better sense of shared responsibility and a stronger commitment to the organization’s success.

Despite all of these benefits, why do many managers struggle at the art of delegation?

Why Delegation is difficult

There are several bad habits and malpractices that hinder an organization from delegating efficiently.

Phrases such as:

“It’s faster just to do it myself.”

“Should I just do this since I can do this better?”

“It’s too risky to trust them with this.”

“I will let them observe and maybe let them do it next time”

are often heard in very busy workplaces. However, despite sounding simple to fix on paper, many people don’t delegate because it truly is difficult.

First point: Delegation is difficult  because it requires you to trust others. Trust doesn’t come naturally to everyone, and it’s hard to build trust when you’re already very preoccupied with too much work, and if there is no preexisting relationship with the person.

Second Point: Delegation is also difficult from a technical standpoint. Delegation requires time, resources, and a system that is forgiving to risks and failures.

How to Delegate, A short list

To be able to delegate consistently, having a checklist that would serve as a reminder to you as a manager would be helpful.

1. Start with the mindset. Ask yourself frequently: “Who else could do this?” Question every task, particularly those you have done traditionally for years. Who could do this better in the long run?
2. Paint the picture; define the end goal. Ask: “What is the result I want accomplished? When is the deadline? When will you want progress reports?” Doing this allows you to learn how to assign responsibility for achieving results rather than simply passing off the tasks.
3. Picking the right person. Consider more than one criteria when choosing to whom to delegate something. Some things to consider: Who has experience and skills? (Be careful not to overload this person.) Who needs to learn how to handle this responsibility? Who has the time to accept this responsibility? Who would like to have this opportunity?
4. How much authority do they need? What kind of authority? Who else needs to be informed that you have given this person the authority to act? Be sure to inform those involved ahead of time to assure their cooperation.
5. Set up areas of control. When do you know if you need to step in? How can you control the situation but still empower employees to act independently?
6. Accountability. How are you going to set accountability? Managers should still be responsible for the success or failure of this person and for achieving the desired results.
7. Getting and providing feedback. Ask for ideas about what to change, who to involve and how to define the results. Consult one’s own team, other managers who interact with the team, one’s manager and customers. Stay in touch, giving plenty of positive reinforcement and coaching when needed.

Delegation is difficult but it is one of the main recipes to success of many long running organizations. Don’t be afraid to pass the baton. It might take some time and practice to be able to delegate well, but doing so will allow everyone in the organization to go further.

Need Help with Management Coaching?

Thank you for reading our article about delegation. We offer consulting and coaching services specializing in improving hotels, restaurants, and catering services’ efficiency and effectiveness through innovation, design, new market concepts, and the introduction to new processes that will grow your business.

Written by Vince Villanueva