Team Building Tips

If you are a manager you are probably trying to keep a whole host of tasks and projects moving forward at the same time. You probably know that you could achieve more if you were to delegate more. In my experience managers often come up with a whole host of reasons for not delegating.

I wonder if you recognise any of the following:

"I don't have time to delegate"

"If you want a job done right do it yourself"

"It takes too long to delegate, I could do it quicker myself"

"I tried delegating once and I was let down by someone else"

Chances are you have heard one or more of the above, many times. By not delegating, you are probably experiencing some specific costs or consequences. It might be:

1. Continually staying late at work

Maybe you find that you are the person who is always first to arrive and last to leave. If that's you, chances are that you could benefit from delegating more.

2. Missing key deadlines

If you are finding yourself always delivering things at the last minute or even worse missing deadlines completely, it might be time to take stock of what you are doing that you really should pass to others.

3. Feeling stressed or under constant pressure

When we start to feel stressed or just constantly under pressure it impacts on our ability to take decisions, solve problems or focus on the bigger picture.

4. Poor performance rating

If you are in a management role, a large part of how your performance will be assessed will be on how well you manage. If you are focusing all of your time and energy on doing rather than managing, chances are you will be poorly rated. This might mean no pay increase or your job being in jeopardy.

Given these not insignificant costs, what can you do to more effectively delegate?

Tip 1: Get clear on your priorities

First and foremost you need to get clear on your priorities and specifically on what your performance will be measured.

Tip 2: Review everything you are currently doing

Make a list of every activity you are doing and ask your self the following questions:

Is this one of my key priorities?

Am I the best person to be doing this?

Is there someone else who could do this more efficiently?

Chances are you will discover a lot of things that could be done better by others leaving you more time to focus on your priorities.

Tip 3: See it as an investment

Yes it might take a bit of time to train someone but once you have done it, the time you spent is freed up.

Bottom Line- If you want to prosper as a manager you need to become highly competent at delegating. So what's your next step?

And now I invite you to sign up for my free e audio course Leadership Success at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk/ Duncan Brodie - Goals and Achievements - Developing management and leadership capability.