The Importance Of Delegating Realistic Tasks

For centuries people have imparted words of wisdom with the use of proverbs. There is an adage to cover almost any situation, and to have us nodding sagely in agreement at the wisdom of our forebears. However, from an early age I realised that there were some proverbs that clearly contradicted each other. I asked myself how it could be better to be safe than sorry, yet nothing ventured nothing gained? Does absence make the heart grow fonder, or is out of sight out of mind? And by all means look before you leap, but remember, he who hesitates is lost. And then there is probably the most glaringly obvious contradiction; that too many cooks spoil the broth, yet many hands make light work.

While there are clearly contradictory proverbs, this does not mean that there is not a ring of truth about them. That last one in particular, that many hands make light work, is so obviously true it should be the mantra of the manager when it comes to delegating tasks to others.

The more responsibility that comes with a post, the more scrutiny the person filling that post will be under, as the risks are greater if they do not perform their duties to a sufficiently high standard. The manager who tries to impress by hoarding tasks like a miser in an attempt to show his or her versatility is actually demonstrating a lack of managerial skill because they are overburdening themselves. Delegating some of this workload to others would show a greater level of managerial nous than trying to take on the whole lot single-handedly. The inevitable outcome of this is that the burden becomes too great and the manager starts to fall behind. When they have to convey this unwelcome news to their superior, the first question that will be asked is "Why didn't you delegate?"

Managers are not judged on their versatility in performing a wide range of tasks, but on the overall performance of the team they are managing. Delegating tasks to others shows that the manager has initiative and that the success of the team is a top priority. But while delegating responsibility can benefit the progress of the project, it is a process that requires some careful thought.

Delegating a task does not consist simply of assigning someone else to it and then waving them away. It is the manager's responsibility to ensure that any tasks assigned to others can be completed. This means ensuring that the person the task is delegated to has the ability, time and resources to complete it. Giving someone a time-consuming task with a very tight deadline could look like the manager is passing on a hot potato. Again if a deadline was not met because the time allocated was clearly not sufficient, or the resources necessary to ensure its completion were not available, the blame trail will wend its way to the desk of the manager who delegated such an unrealistic target.

But if care is taken in choosing which tasks should be delegated to others, and in ensuring that those tasks are clearly achievable, the benefits can be great. When a team completes a project successfully, many of the plaudits will fall on the manager who was astute enough to spread the workload across the team to ensure maximum efficiency. This manager will also have demonstrated an adherence to yet another proverb, that if a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well.