Various steps in delegating work

Delegation is fundamental to successful management. If you have too much to do, or if you don't have enough time to devote to important tasks, delegate. When people need development, or an employee has the skills needed to perform a specific task, look to delegate.

What to delegate? Begin with routine administrative tasks; they're not a good use of your time. Review these and delegate as many as you can. On a larger scale delegate projects that makes sense for one person to handle; this will be a good test of management and coordination. Give the person something he/she can complete successfully, rather than an impossible one. Look for aptitude.

Who to delegate to? Make sure you understand the person. He/she must have the skills and ability, or at least the potential, to develop into the role. It's a good idea to test out the employee with small tasks. Also make sure that the employee is available for the assignment.

Think positively - You have the right to delegate, and you must. You won't get it 100 per cent right the first time, but you'll improve. Be decisive, improve your assertiveness. A positive approach will also give your employees confidence and self belief.

Organise yourself - If you expect efficiency, organise yourself first. If there's no overall plan, it'll be hard to identify, schedule, and evaluate delegated work. Prepare before delegating. Assess and decide how much responsibility the person will have. Assess progress regularly. Make notes and coach.

Discuss the task - When you meet the person you're delegating to, discuss the tasks/issues in depth and explain what's expected of them. It's crucial to give people precise objectives. Encourage questions and participation in setting task parameters. Ask how they'll go about the task; discuss their plan and the support needed.

Set targets and offer support - Targets should be set and deadlines scheduled into diaries. Summarise and take notes. Be clear. If you want creativity, you can decide to be deliberately vague, but if the task is urgent and critical, you must be specific.

How much support? - In the early stages work together and share certain tasks before withdrawing gradually. Encourage people to revert if they have any problems. Be accessible. Offer a response quickly. Don't interfere or criticise if things are going according to plan.

Monitor progress - When planning, time should be built in to review progress. If more problems were expected to arise and nothing has been heard, check with the employee that all is well. Schedule routine meetings with the person and be flexible enough to change deadlines and objectives as the situation changes.

How did it go? - When a task is completed, review and praise. If an employee's responsibilities are increased, make sure he or she receives fair rewards. Don't offer rewards you can't deliver on. Development carries its own rewards. Development issues can be discussed with the employee in appraisals. If the person has failed to deliver, discuss to find out what went wrong.

Pitfalls! - Do not expect employees to do things like you do. Give people a chance. Have faith in the people around you. Do not delegate responsibility without authority.

- Sanjiv Anand is the managing director and Rajesh Iyer is director at Cedar Management Consulting International.