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Delegation is entrusting a responsibility or task to another

• Delegate: Entrust a task or responsibility to another person.  Oxford Dictionary
• Delegate: To give a particular job, duty, right, etc. to someone else so that they do it for you.  Cambridge Dictionary
• Management,  Outsourcing

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Delegation may require an investment in time in the short run but pays off in the long run  

• Avoid thinking that it is too much trouble to delegate responsibility ‘ delegating will pay off over time if the task needs to be done again and again.
• Delegation takes time at first but it lightens the load and ultimately is going to use less time in the long run. Stephen Covey

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Delegation can greatly increase your effectiveness and success  

• The effective person never asks HOW will I get to do this but rather WHO will I get to do this. Mary Cantando
• We accomplish all that we do through delegation – either to time or to other people. Stephen Covey
• The great strength of delegation is that we can accomplish so much more. It allows us to multiply ourselves and increase leverage to grow our businesses beyond our own individual capacities. Stephen Covey
• Effectiveness,  Success

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Delegation is an opportunity for others to grow  

• Delegating means letting others become the experts and hence the best. Timothy Firnstahl
• Managers delegate work not to just relieve their workload, but to allow the employees they supervise to grow professionally. Greg Smith
• Growth

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Delegating lets you focus instead on the tasks that only you can do  

• Delegate effectively to the right person. This frees you to do more things of higher value. The more of your essential tasks that you can teach and delegate to others, the greater the time you will have to do the things that only you can do. Brian Tracy
• Delegating frees you up to tackle the truly important aspects of your mission/business/project. Kate McKay
• Delegate when you can more usefully use your energy and time to focus on other important issues. Andy Britnell

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Surround yourself with people who fill your gaps  

• Surround yourself with people who fill your gaps. Let them do the stuff they’re better at so you can do the stuff you’re better at.  Marc Chernoff  
• Do an assessment of your weaknesses and find the right people to fill in those gaps. Lesley Spencer Pyle
• As soon as you can, find partners who are energized by the tasks that exhaust and deplete you. If you can’t find the right partner, outsource the aspects of your business that make you want to crawl back into bed. Sonia Simone

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Effective delegation is not about merely dumping the dirty work  

• Effective delegation is not about dumping the dirty work off your desk or asking someone to jump in and fix something that you let fall through the cracks. These tactics will ultimately lead to a breakdown in employee satisfaction. Nellie Akalp
• A good system of delegation will give your people enthusiasm and build teamwork. A bad system will give your staff the feeling that you are merely dumping your menial, unpleasant tasks onto others. The difference is the amount of responsibility you assign. David Rohlander

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Pick the right person for the job  

• Pick the right person. Picking the wrong person for a key task is a major reason for failure. Brian Tracy
• The secret of success is not in doing your own work, but in recognising the right person to do it. Hasan
• You can delegate authority, but you can never delegate responsibility for delegating a task to someone else. If you picked the right man, fine, but if you picked the wrong man, the responsibility is yours — not his. Richard E Krafve

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Clearly communicate your expectations and the result you want…  

• The key to successful delegation is being absolutely clear about what you’re expecting for the outcome. Nellie Akalp
• Another mistake is making your expectations unclear. When people aren’t quite sure what it is they are trying to do, the outcome they are striving for, and how they are going to be accountable for it, they’re not motivated or inspired. Stephen Covey
• Delegate clear outcomes. Make them measurable. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Explain what is to be done, the reasons for doing this job in the first place. Brian Tracy
• If you don’t clearly communicate your expectations, the job will never be completed to your satisfaction. Stop being in such a hurry. Clearly give instructions and have the person you are delegating to respond, verifying what you expect.  Everyone needs to be on the same page before you hit go.  Christy Graham
• Communication

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…. but, where possible, let the person choose his / her own methods to accomplish the task  

• Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results. George S. Patton
• It’s far better to delegate results than specific activities. For example, “Here’s what we are doing, here’s what we’re after. I want you to get the sale,” instead of, “Follow up on those leads.” Stephen Covey
• Accept that the team member’s approach might be different from yours. This doesn’t mean the results will be worse – they might even be better! Andy Britnell
• Clarify the results you want. Determine the results you consider necessary for successful completion of the task. In general, the employee to whom you delegate uses his or her own methods to accomplish the task. Greg Smith

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Delegate in a way that people feel they own the job  

• Delegate with participation and discussion. Invite questions and be open to suggestions. You need to delegate in such a way that people walk away feeling, ‘‘This is my job; I own it.’’ Brian Tracy
• Delegate the entire job. One hundred percent responsibility for a task is a major performance motivator. The more often you assign responsibilities to the right people, the more competent they become. Brian Tracy
• Autonomy

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Always assign a deadline  

• A job without a deadline is merely a discussion. Brian Tracy

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Tell the person why you chose him / her  

• When you delegate a task, tell the person why you chose them-why you think their particular talents are well- suited for the project. Compliments go a long way, and will give the person a sense of being needed and a sense of purpose. Kate McKay

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Let them get on with the task without micro-managing or constantly interfering …  

• The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self- restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. Theodore Roosevelt
• You’ll need to take a deep breath and just let go. Realize that when you delegate something, it’s now out of your hands. You’ll need to step back to avoid interfering in the process and progress. Nellie Akalp
• Give the team member the car keys but prise your fingers off the steering wheel. Let them go and remember not to interfere. Andy Britnell
• There are those who seem to think a proof of executive ability is to be fussing around all the while. Not so. The real leader flutters not. He knows how to delegate work. He is the one who directs and, therefore, seems least busy of all. Ohio Education Monthly, 1915
• Surround yourself with the best people you can find, delegate authority, and don’t interfere as long as the policy you’ve decided upon is being carried out.  Ronald Reagan
• It’s not about making the decisions for them. Develop their critical thinking skills so they become better at intervening in their own situations. Jeffrey Pfeffer

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… but do follow up periodically  

• Giving ample freedom doesn’t mean you never check in at all. Periodically follow-up with the person, not necessarily to stick your nose in what they’re doing, but to see if they have any questions or concerns that need to be addressed. Kate McKay
• Establish a follow-up schedule. Use a series of follow-up meetings to 1) monitor progress and 2) determine need for assistance. Monitoring the progress avoids a discovery two days before the due date that the task is not on schedule. It also can serve as an indication of whether the employee needs assistance.   Greg Smith

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Harness the power of trust  

• Nothing engages someone like having trust placed in them. They want to prove the trust is justified and rise to the occasion. Trust motivates and inspires.  Trust is the most compelling form of human motivation, and delegation is a practice that demonstrates trust.  Stephen Covey
• Trust

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After completion, give feedback and share the rewards  

• Share in rewards and give credit and praise. Kate McKay
• Praise and give rewards after completion of the task. Give specific feedback about the results. Thank the employee for a job well done.
• Praise is often the most effect reward. Send a thank you note for a job well done.  Review the errors but keep a positive approach.  Always praise in public and correct in private.

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More advice for effective delegating  

• Hire the best. Pay them fairly. Communicate frequently. Provide challenges and rewards. Believe in them. Get out of their way and they’ll knock your socks off.  Mary Ann Allison
• Hire great people and find ways to keep them on your team for the long term. Encourage them to pursue their ideas and give them the tools that they need to succeed: promotions, assistance, or perhaps a new company! If you get this right, you will also have more time to look after body, mind, family, friends and children. Basically, you’ll have to time to have a blast. Richard Branson
• What I do is get good men and I never give them orders. My directions do not go beyond suggestions. Here in the morning I get reports from them. Within an hour I have disposed of everything, sent out all my suggestions, the day’s work done, and I am ready to go out and enjoy myself. Andrew Carnegie

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• Who can I delegate to?
• Do I need to hire a helping hand?
• What are routine tasks in my life I can delegate?
• What are my weaknesses? What activities deplete me?   Which of these activities can I delegate or outsource?
• What is the current workload of the person to whom I’m delegating? Do I need to free him up a bit?
• Does this person have the requisite skills and background knowledge to do the task?  What training do they need?
• Is there someone else who has greater expertise to handle this than me?
• How much supervision will be required?
• What is the result I’m looking for? What are my expectations? How can I communicate this clearly?
• How can I provide useful information to help the person tackle the project, but avoid too much detail?
• How will I support this person through the process?  
• How and how often will I review progress?

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• When in charge ponder 2. When in trouble delegate 3. When in doubt mumble.  Boren’s Laws for Bureaucrats
• Boss  Someone who delegates all the authority, shifts the blame and takes all the credit.
• Delegating work works, provided the one delegating works, too. Robert Half
• Delegation: In American politics, an article of merchandise that comes in sets.  Ambrose Bierce
• If a job’s worth doing make sure you delegate it to the right person.
• If a job’s worth doing, make sure you delegate it to the right person.
• Management: A class of semi-skilled corporate hirelings whose rise within the organization correlates directly with the amount of work they delegate to their more-talented underlings.

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