You might have an easy answer to that question. Either you delegate all the time and you think you’ve got it right or you don’t delegate at all.
If you’re a sole trader, delegating can feel as if you’re handing your baby over to a complete stranger. Either you’ve decided to take on an employee or you’re preparing to work with a freelancer. Potentially, choosing to outsource to a freelancer is less risky. If things aren’t working letting a freelancer go is much more straightforward than if they were an employee.
Equally, if you’re in a larger business supervising a team of employees, their work will reflect on you. You need to make sure that they’re being entrusted with work that suits their abilities.
I’ve been on both sides of the delegation table. Mostly the tasks I was given were entirely appropriate. However there was the odd occasion in my years of legal practice where I’d express concern about my ability level and be told to get on with it. I suppose that’s more of a supervision issue, which is a whole new blog post in itself…
Good delegation can be difficult. When you’re busy, often your team are too. I’ve always been a planner but even with the best intentions it doesn’t always work. I was occasionally guilty of handing a ridiculously short deadline to another team member and it doesn’t feel great. Equally, an over confident but inexperienced colleague once lulled me into a false sense of security.
No matter how your team is constructed here are a few key ways to ensure you delegate effectively.