Control freaks the world over think that no one can do it better than them. Sadly, many managers/control freaks are, simply, incredibly poor at using the most effective tool in the management toolbox: delegation. 

Not letting go of the day-to-day tasks can quickly kill the growth potential of your business along with your career. Being productive requires effective management, and that means getting delegation right. 

Delegation is good for everyone – for managers especially, but also for helping staff upgrade their skills and confidence as well as to showcase their (in/)competence.

Here are the five steps of strong delegation:

1. Determine what is to be delegated

Sounds obvious, but it often isn’t. Always delegate as much as possible – particularly all execution-based work. Ideally, management should enrol the team, select the players and let them play (while the manager stays off the pitch).

2. Identify the right person

The best managers determine the positions of his/her staff based on their particular individual skills. Other key delegation factors include identifying those that: can devote the time/are interested in the assignment/understand the background/can handle the job/are reliable/are keen to grow.

3. Assign the task

Extraordinarily, less is more when it comes to instruction, even on major projects. In most cases, those you delegate to will be keen to demonstrate their abilities (if not, you may be delegating to the wrong person). Too much instruction and they’ll view the task as simply following your orders (this quickly kills motivation). Instead, why not agree a “vision” for the end result and leave the route(s) for achieving that vision open for them to decide?

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