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Notes on How to Delegate Work and Ensure It's Done Right by Dick Lohr

ISBN: 0943066654

Why Delegate?

1. so you can get promoted / build depth behind us
2. avoid creating indespensible people
3. challenge high performers
4. a better return on personnel dollars
5. physical limitations

Kinds of Things to Delegate

1. recurring matters
2. minor decisions
3. time consuming details
4. what others are better qualified to do

Specific Examples

1. open, sort, & route mail
2. pass along information to callers
3. draft responses to routine correspondence
4. screen telephone calls and visitors
5. maintain a file of due dates for reports, activites, and projects delegated to others
6. make reminder calls
7. take care of charitable contributions (up to a certain amount)
8. review sales figures & other information and report only exception information
9. attend & hold meetings on your behalf
10. subsitute for you on business trips
11. draw up budgets, devise marketing campaings, work out schedules, or evaluate new product proposals
12. represent you at trade shows
13. manage the disposition of company assets (???)
14. approve salaries and manage overtime pay and related records
15. handle personnel recruiting and selection
16. design a profit sharing plan
17. oversee the completion of a project that you initiated
18. let others authorize travel and manage expense accounts
19. take care of personnel transfers and take care of routine staffing decisioins
20. prepare bid specifications or check figures on bid submissions
21. recommending tasks and projects which they believe they can handle for you completely for partially

How to Delegate (the Delegator's Dozen)

1. set a clear objective
2. select the delgatee
3. if necessary, train the delegatee on all or part of what they will be doing
4. get input from the deligatee
5. assign the project or task and a deadline
6. provide necessary guidance (often done poorly)
   1. is there any critical information that this person needs to know in order to complete the task
   2. suggest approaches (being careful not to dictate)
   3. describe results required or set standards
7. make a delegation contract (levels below)
   1. take action (no need to report back)
   2. take action, but stay in touch
   3. get approval before moving on
   4. do only what I tell you to do
8. establish controls
9. maintain controls
10. provide feedback
11. identify lessons learned
12. evaluate performance

Responsibility, Authority, & Accountability

1. responsibility: assigning to others full ownership of the results to be achieved
2. authority: the granting of power, freedom, and the right to act within establish guidelines or parameters
3. accountability: ???

Personality Types

1. driver (autocratic)
2. analytic (hate to be wrong)
   1. to speed up, periodically ask "Given the data I have right now, what is the decision I would make?"
   2. AND "If I were to expend effort to collect more data, give what I know, would it change my mind?", YES=get the information; NO=make the decision and move on
3. amiable
4. expressive

Easy Way To Find The The Right Person To Do The Task

1. ask for volunteers
2. look at the nature of the task and find someone whose personality style match the nature of the work

Motivators of People

1. assigning responsibility to them (allowing them to take ownership of the results desired)
2. being given more meaningful and significant work
3. recognition (most common concern or complaint: not receiving recognition)
4. growth
5. freedom to make mistakes

What To Ask Anyone Trying To Pass Delegation Back
(follow up questions with an appointment to discuss their answers)

1. What's a clear definition or statement of the problem?
2. What are the alternatives? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative?
3. What is your recommendation and why?

How to set expectations

1. Suggest compliance
2. Persuaded compliance
3. Demand compliance and announce expectations
4. Issue an ultimatum

Reasons to Intervene

1. when the dollar risk is high
2. when not necessarily dealing with an isolated incident
3. if setting a precident
4. dramatic effect on other employees
5. employee's past record of getting or staying off track
6. quality of feedback from individual
7. consider impact on the employees reputation or motivations

Core Convictions

1. people tend to live up to or down to our expectations
2. ordinary people can perform in extraordinary ways, if given the chance to do so
3. your success is directly dependent on the success of those for whom you are responsible

Addendum by Lou Heckler

1. ask for a personal commitment
2. set a very specific deadline
3. make the deadline unusual (people are more likely to remember it)
4. get it in writing ("Would you mind sending me a brief written confirmation of your understanding of what we just agreed to?")

Dealing With Problems Brought Up By Delegatees

1. ask them for ideas
2. ask them to find someone else with the same problem

See Also:

• Manager Tools » Delegation Worksheet