| Topics & Forms | |
| Quality Leadership | Chairperson Tips |
| Helpful Hints For Officers | Conflict Management |
| Delegating Responsibility | |
Delegating responsibility serves a number of purposes which include:
Group Benefits
- Members become more involved and committed
- A greater chance that projects will be completed
- Distributes the workload
- More projects and activities are undertaken
- More diversity in project ideas
- Increased opportunities for members to develop leadership skills
- Organization operates more smoothly
Leader Benefits
- Not being spread too thin and therefore less likely to burn out
- Gain satisfaction of seeing members grow and develop
- Acquire more experience and executive and administrative responsibilities
Many leaders have difficulty delegating responsibly; many would prefer to
do the job themselves to make sure the job is done right. While this
method is often more expedient, it can also breed apathy and resentment
among non-involved group members.
An Appropriate Time to Delegate Is When:
- You feel someone else has particular qualifications which would suit the task
- You think a particular person might benefit from the responsibility
- There is a lot of work
- Details take up too much time & have to be divided
- Routine matters need attention
- A member has particular qualification or interest in a task
An Appropriate Time NOT to Delegate Is When:
- The area is big or is an unsolved problem, or issue, dealing with personal feelings or with confidentiality
- Something you yourself would not be willing to do
- Someone is under-qualified or over-qualified for the task
- The work is your own specific responsibility (no “dumping”)
Ways to Delegate
- Ask for volunteers. Explain the task and see who is interested
- Appoint or suggest someone. Sometimes a member lacks self-confidence and won’t volunteer; appointing (or asking) him/her demonstrates you confidence in him/her. (You might consider asking the person privately. You don’t want to embarrass or put someone on the spot.)
- Don’t be afraid to assign tasks. Don’t assume silence means lack of interest. Take the initiative to suggest someone. The person always retains the option of saying no.
- Assign through a committee. This takes the pressure off an individual and reinforces the organizational structure.
- Spread the good tasks around. Make sure that the same people don’t always get the same jobs.
Questions to Answer When Delegating:
- Why this person?
- Why this task?
- How should they begin?
- When should it be completed ?
Tips for successful delegation:
- Coordinate and keep communication open with various people in the
- Set up definite expectations for work performance (mutually with the person doing the work)
- Make resource available to people doing various tasks
- Set up a system of priorities for getting those things done
- Facilitate the accomplishment of getting those things done, but don’t take over
- Remember the importance of tact and concern
- Set Deadlines and due dates
- If things aren’t getting done find out why and act on it