Do you feel stressed and overloaded at work? Then now may be the perfect time to work on your delegation skills!

The importance of delegation in the workplace cannot be underestimated. It is a great way to boost organizational performance and productivity, but it also creates a sense of empowerment among employees by granting them greater independence.

No leader can do everything all of the time, but when it comes to delegating some of the tasks and responsibility to others, people tend to try to avoid it. To be able to delegate properly, it is important to understand why this is. Simply, most people don’t like to delegate because it seems easier to complete the task themselves than explaining it to someone else; however, the 5 reasons below outline why this is not the case and why it may be better to delegate to someone else.

Frees Up Time and Increases the Work Output

With the countless demands for their time and attention, for a leader to be effective it is essential to find a balance between the strategic and tactical. When leaders delegate certain tasks to their team, they free up time to focus their efforts on the more important and high-value tasks, therefore using their time more productively. Delegation can also largely expand the workload your company can handle and deliver on. By taking the heavy burden off of your shoulders you and your team can divide and conquer, focusing on everyone’s strengths to ensure an efficient workplace and the delivery of quality work.

Promotes Personal Growth

By delegating tasks to others you are creating an opportunity for them to learn and take on new responsibilities. It demonstrates to them your confidence in them and helps them show what they are capable of. By showing your employees that you trust them with the responsibilities you delegate to them, your team will gain the urge to strive for more, whether that be the next success or even greater responsibility.

Empowers Employees

Delegation creates a sense of empowerment for employees as it allows them to demonstrate their capability to take on the work. When they are given the chance to take on new tasks outside of their typical responsibilities, and are given a say in the decision-making process, they become empowered to strive for success and another challenge to conquer! Delegation also helps your employees to recognize their importance within your team, and highlights to them your confidence in and appreciation of their abilities, which in turn creates a heightened sense of engagement.

Supports Learning and Skill Development

Delegation supports new skill development in both leaders and employees. For those new to a leadership role, it gets them used to accepting responsibility for outcomes and understanding that they don’t have to do all of the work themselves. When leaders learn to delegate effectively, they are establishing the capability to provide feedback, set expectations, and ensure accountability in the workplace. For employees being delegated tasks, they have the opportunity to step outside of their typical tasks to learn new processes and interact with new team members.

Promotes Communication

Delegation encourages communication across your company hierarchy that may not exist otherwise. By delegating tasks you will be actively communicating with your team, sharing ideas and encouraging their contribution, which will help the task run more smoothly and encourage greater efficiency and responsibility from your team. You will all be in it together, striving for collective success.

Although delegation may not be the easiest of tasks, it is essential to the growth and improvement of your company. To ensure effective delegation, you as a leader must acknowledge what is stopping you from delegating, identify what tasks you can actually delegate to others, and be able to find and prepare the right person for the task. If you can do this well, you can effectively build a strong team that are well able to meet the demands of the industry.

Do you feel you need help to delegate more effectively in your workplace? With our Executive Coaching Program, we will work with you to help understand and improve your organizational skills, including delegating more effectively to help maximize the potential of your company.