The Art of Delegation

By Rachel Weiss

"Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do." – Jessica Jackley

One of the best ways for managers to increase their productivity is to delegate certain tasks to their team members. However, this is not all that common. Why? My take is that there are two reasons: first off, the obvious -- the belief that no one else will complete the task as well as the manager will. This may or may not be true, but, as I will discuss in a moment, that may not matter as much as you think. The second reason, which is a bigger yet solvable issue, is that no one else on the team has the skills to complete the task.

So, let's start with the first assumption -- I can't delegate tasks to my team because no one will do it as well as I do it. Let me start by saying that if there is a task that MUST be done to a high standard, you should be the one to do it. Don't delegate projects or tasks that are high-profile or incredibly important or timely to the business and/or your role. Those simply must be completed by you. With that said, if you have someone who you think can complete the task to about 80 percent or more proficiency, you should delegate that work to them. This is predicated on a belief that perfect is the enemy of good -- it maybe won't be done as well as you'd do it, but getting it done in a timely way and saving your time for other tasks is more important. If it has to be perfect, do not delegate.

The second concern is that no one on the team has the skills for the task. As a manager, you have the ability to solve this! Obviously, if you're delegating tasks, it means you're short on time, so in-the-moment training is not useful as it may take the same amount of time, or more, to get the task done in the first place. Instead, think proactively. How can you prepare the team ahead of time so that when you need the task done in the future, someone is ready? Here are a few ideas that won't take much extra work on your part:

• Hold lunch-n-learns with your team to go through how to complete the task
• Have a team member shadow you as you do the task a few times
• As you're doing a task, take notes as a sort of process guide, so that you have something to share with a team member who is trying this for the first time

Are you overly involved in the daily credit and collection routine? That kind of everyday work can be delegated to a team member who is ready. It becomes a developmental opportunity for them, and it frees up more of your time for the strategic aspects of your role - things like system improvements and portfolio analysis. Those activities can uncover risks previously unrecognized or provide opportunities for greater sales or

profitability. Additionally, you will learn more about your team’s strengths as you delegate work to them for completion.

What might this look like? Here are a few examples of things you might delegate:

• Credit Analysis: This is a task that often takes considerable time if done properly. Unless there is a credit analyst on staff, most credit managers tend to handle the larger new customer approvals and most of the new accounts that require financial statement analysis. Having somebody else that can share some of this responsibility can free up considerable time for the manager to do other things. For example, you might train a person to handle the deals within a range of dollars or have that person do a lot of the legwork, and then the manager handles the final analysis.
• Key Customers: Credit managers with smaller departments may want to manage the biggest and most important customers, doing everything from A-Z. However, it is usually more efficient to have the staff handle routine issues for customers both large and small (requests for documents, past-due reminders, and low-key collection calls) with the credit manager only getting involved when there is a substantial issue.
• Month-end Reporting: Putting the month-end report together can take several days if the process is not automated. Most of that time is spent compiling the data, a task that can be delegated.

By doing these types of things, you're investing in your team's professional development and doing it in a way that directly benefits you and your productivity in the future - everyone wins!

Rachel Weiss is the Executive Consultant for TheHumanManager.org