Effective Delegation

Properly train the person you are delegating to.

There is nothing more frustrating for you or the person you are delegating to than not clearly explaining what you want and expect. If you are going to effectively delegate, you have to be very clear on the what, the when and the how.

1. The What: What do you want? Be specific and be clear. If there seems to be confusion, ask the person if they understand what you want and even have them explain/repeat it back to you.

2. The When: When do you want it done? If you leave it open for interpretation, don't get upset if what you delegated gets done next week, next month or even next year. You need to be very clear on when you need the task or responsibility done.

3. The How: Most of the time I don't get involved in how our team does something. There is more than one way to accomplish most assignments/jobs. There are some things that I want done a certain way, and I explain how I want it done. Example: There is a certain way that I want my assistant to handle my phone calls, so I don't just tell my assistant to just answer the phone and take messages. We have covered in detail the HOW of handling my phone calls.