When you become a manager things change.
Rather than being the person who just does tasks you are expected to manage people and processes.
A common mistake that many new managers make is to try to keep doing all the things they did previously and then add in the management.
Chances are that before you became a manager you already had a pretty full schedule so if you try to keep adding more you eventually reach the point where you have insufficient capacity to do everything well.
You have probably heard several times that you need to delegate.
That’s true but how do you do it well?
Establish what your success will be measured on
Do you know how your boss determines whether you have done a good job or not?
If you’re thinking gosh I’m not sure, don’t worry. In my experience many managers don’t have that clarity.
Without that clarity, it’s going to be really difficult for you to focus your attention on what matters.
So before you can even start to delegate you need to get clear about what your success will be measured on.
Accept it goes with the territory of managing
You have a limited amount of time available to you. So even if you wanted to you could not get everything done working in isolation.
By delegating you get more done and move forward different streams of work simultaneously.
Accept this reality.
Avoid the I can do it faster trap
You are right. You probably can right now.
Over time however someone else can get up to the same speed as you and may even find a much more productive way of doing something.
Know your team
Specifically make sure that you understand the skills and capabilities of those on your team.
When you do it will become a lot easier to determine what you should delegate to each member of your team.
Don’t fall into the fear trap
Will people deliver 100% of the time?
Probably not.
Then again do you deliver 100% of the time?
Often it’s simply fear that people won’t deliver that stops people from delegating.
Fixing this is pretty easy. Just set up regular reviews to make sure things are progressing and help people move forward if they are stuck or struggling.
In truth there are some risks associated with delegating. On the other hand the potential benefits to you far outweigh any downsides.
