Delegate Now | Leila’s House of Corrections

One of the best things about being a manager is that it s assumed you should be delegating work. It s part of your job to hand off tasks to your team. However, many managers have trouble letting go. Come on managers, it s time to learn how to delegate to your team.

Having a team to support you is an incredible opportunity, and you need to take advantage of the talents of your direct reports. Delegating taking things off your plate and handing them off to others is key to team, company, and individual success.

Instead of holding onto tasks for fear of losing control over things, here are 3 tips to delegating effectively.

Tip 1: Realize that no one is going to do the work the same way you do.

Get over it. No one is you except you, and unless you re going to complete a task yourself, it s never going to be completed exactly the way you do it. Let it go: it s time to use your team s strengths, not yours.

Tip 2: Start small.

Hand over one small, short-term project, one team member at a time. Provide details on what needs to get done and share your recommendations on how tasks could be approached, then get out of the way.

Tip 3: Step back and say nothing for a while.

Allow employees to begin to accomplish tasks without peering over their shoulders. Avoid providing criticism unless your comments will dramatically improve the outcome of the project. Hold your tongue. Of course you don t want anyone to fail, but at the same time, you must allow them to accomplish tasks on their own. Step back.

Remember, to succeed as a manager, you have to let go. You will fail if you attempt to manage a team and do everyone s work at the same time. Once you learn how to delegate, you ll most likely find that your team accomplishes tasks in new and better ways than you did. And then you get focus on managing the big picture because you ve delegated effectively.