Starting a Business All-In-One For Dummies

Chapter 6

Delegating to Get Things Done

In This Chapter

• Managing through delegation
• Debunking the myths about delegation
• Putting delegation to work
• Choosing which tasks to delegate

Once you grow beyond a one-person shop, the power of your business comes not from your efforts alone, but from the sum of all the efforts of your employees. If you're responsible for only a few employees, with extraordinary effort, you perhaps can do the work of your entire group if you so desire — and if you want to be a complete stranger to your friends and family. When you're talking about more than a few employees, you simply can't do all the work if you tried. Besides, you don't want to be known as a micromanager who gets too involved in the petty details of running things. And your employees may take less responsibility for their work because you're always there to do it (or check it) for them. They will be less engaged in their work, and morale will plummet. Why should they bother trying to do their best job if you don't trust them enough to do it?

Managers — even ones who are also business owners — assign responsibility for completing tasks through delegation. But simply assigning tasks and then walking away isn't enough. To delegate effectively, you must also give employees authority and ensure that they have the resources necessary to complete tasks effectively. You must also monitor the progress of their employees, if they have direct reports of their own, toward meeting their assigned goals. ...