3 Steps to Smart Delegation and Why Everyone Should be Delegating!!

3 Steps to Smart Delegation and Why Everyone Should Be Delegating

Delegate: The cliché “greatest weakness” answer in an interview and the
most under-utilized time management tool of all time.
Why do we fear something that can help us so much? We’ll tell you why.
Delegating is often thought of as laziness – pushing off tasks to other
people and claiming the credit for them when they are finished to
perfection. That connotation couldn’t be farther from the truth, though.
First of all, delegating isn’t limited to the workplace. You can delegate from
the comfort of your own home, so if it’s nerve-wracking to delegate work
tasks to a coworker or direct report, try it out at home with these steps.
Decide What Needs to be Delegated
Simple, but often overlooked. Check-in with yourself to figure out where
your time is going and if any of those tasks or responsibilities can be
delegated out to other people. Decide if you want to delegate at home, at
work, or a mix of both. For instance, maybe you’re tired of cleaning the
house every week, and you’d like to invest in a cleaning service. Consider
the tasks, both at work and at home, that you don’t enjoy or aren’t
particularly good at. Those are the things you should be delegating.
Identify Who Could Help You
Once you know what you need help with, think about who can help you
out. Perhaps you’d like someone to mow the lawn for you. You could hire a
high school neighbor to mow your lawn, or you could hire a professional
lawn service. Take time to brainstorm, and don’t overlook this step. This
person will be an extension of you in a way. They will be taking on some of
your work, so it’s critical that you are happy with the person you pick.

Automate the Menial Manual Tasks
You can’t automate everything. Otherwise, no one would work a day in
their life! But you can automate some things. You can use automatic
scheduling software to automatically schedule things like social media,
meetings, time tracking, and project management. Heck, you can even
automate your personal life, buy having healthy meals delivered to your
door. And many online stores now have features where you can automate
purchases that you get regularly. Set it and forget it. This step is helpful for
those who would happily pay someone to take on tasks they dislike or
aren’t good at. Taking advantage of all the ways you can automate your life
using the technology we have at our fingertips. Automation is a form of
delegation.
Delegation isn’t a lazy way out. It’s about working smarter, not harder. It’s
about using the time you have to your advantage so that you have more
time to enjoy the life you’ve been given.