Stop Thinking of Reasons Not to Delegate

One thing I’ve noticed with managers, particularly new managers, is that they are excellent at coming up with reasons to not delegate. It really is a skill that no one taught them, but they have somehow managed to master. 

The thing is, almost every one of those reasons is a bad one. It makes them less effective, it makes their team less productive, and it hampers the development of everyone on the team, including themselves.

Delegation has the following benefits:

• It uses resources wisely. Managers make more money that the people on their teams (usually). If a manager does something that someone else could do, it is a waste of money.

• It frees the manager to focus on important tasks. Everyone has more tasks than time. The goal is to use your time on the most important things. Delegation helps with that.

• It develops people. If a manager gives some things to the other people on the team through delegation, they learn new skills and develop in their roles.

When I talk with managers about why they don’t delegate, 99 times out of 100 I can explain to them why their logic is flawed. 

I was no different. The first time I was a manager, we had a team coordinator. I would do things like make my own travel arrangements and copies and such. Finally, he told me that I have to give him those things. He very nicely said that if I was going to spend my time doing that, I was paid too much. He also pointed out that he was not fulfilling his role, so I was making him disengaged and unhappy.

I started to use him more and realized he was 100% correct. We were both happier and more productive.

So the next time you come up with a reason to not delegate, stop yourself. There is a 99% chance you are wrong.