Most managers, supervisors and leaders admit that delegating a task is one of the hardest things they have to do. You’ve heard it before: “if you want it right, you have to do it yourself.”  While that may be true in some cases, just because you’re the best at something doesn’t mean that you need to do it yourself. We all have 24-hour days and if you do everything yourself you’re putting a limit on how much you can accomplish and how much positive effect you can have on your team.

Focus on the Most Important Tasks

I know what you are thinking, everything is important. Well guess what Sparky; everything is not important; at least not right here and not right now. No matter how important you are or think you are there is a time and a place for everything. You have to establish a priority list. Unless you have magical powers you have the same 24 hours in a day that everyone else does. Therefore you have to establish what gets done when and by whom because you cannot mentally or physically accomplish everything by yourself.

Hire People that Are Better than You and Let Them Do Their Job

Having great people on your team makes all the difference. If you hire whoever is available right this minute or who is the cheapest, forget about delegating; you’ll always have to micromanage them. Why would you want to micromanage anyone that you have hired to help you run your business? How about giving them the training they need to be successful?  Hire people that are better than you and let them do their job. Unfortunately a lot of supervisors have a fear of hiring people better than they are. They have a fear that maybe others will think they are better and they will be replaced. As a true leader you should never be afraid of this. This is your job and it will make your job a heck of a lot easier! But remember: they’re not you. They’ll do things differently and this is not a bad thing. Different is not bad; it’s just different. What’s that expression? Oh yes, there’s more than one way to skin a cat! The old ‘it’s my way or the highway’ philosophy is archaic and unless your goal is to be the Supreme Ruler of the Universe I suggest you abandon it immediately! Avoid being a control freak; explain to them the desired outcome and let them choose the path they want to get there. Don’t expect other people to work just like you. That’s not how it works.

Have Realistic Expectations

When people do something for the first time, they almost always make mistakes. That is simply a part of life. A big part of your job is to properly train them so that mistakes are minimized! Expecting them to do everything perfectly the first time wouldn’t be realistic. After all, it took you a few weeks or months to do it as well as you do it now. When you need to tell people they made a mistake, start by showing your appreciation for all the great effort they put into something, explain how they can do it better next time and finish by thanking them for doing such great work. In general, people do not intentionally do a poor job. Most people really do try hard to please the boss.  A truly great leader would recognize that effort.

Take Responsibility

More times than not, when we delegate and something goes wrong we tend to blame whomever we delegated to. What about your responsibility in this process? Did you clearly define the goals, the outcome, and the process? Did you properly train the team member to deliver the results you expected or needed? You gave the message, are you certain it was clear?

Delegation is not that difficult or complicated. Effective delegation allows you to get a great deal more accomplished than you could on your own. Delegation and the appropriate completion of tasks is an outstanding learning opportunity for your associate as well as for you.

If you want to be the Supreme Ruler of the Universe then go ahead and either do everything yourself, or insist that everything be done your way. If you want to be a functioning part of the world as we know it, then learn to delegate.

Following these four steps will enable you to delegate effectively and to accomplish everything on your plate:

• · Focus on the Most Important Tasks
• Hire People that Are Better than You and Let Them Do Their Job
• Have Realistic Expectations
• Take Responsibility