The Art of Delegation

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Graeme Nichol compiled these tips on using delegation to help your work life run a little smoother.  Give a few a try and see if delegation can help your call center run just a bit smoother.

Lets begin by understanding a little more about delegation. Hopefully this short piece will allow you to assess your own approach and review its effectiveness or otherwise.

Definition - Delegation is where part of your own job consciously passed to a subordinate whilst retaining accountability.

As management is really about getting things done through people, successful delegation is vital aspect of a manager's job. The more senior you are the more you really delegate and the more effective you become. You're doing more strategic work as you progress upwards within your organization and doing less transactional work.

Delegation is something one needs to make a conscious decision about. Looking at your own time and how successful can you be doing everything yourself? Perhaps delegating makes sense to clear your desk of things that you don't have to be doing yourself.

Select a subordinate who is not only capable of doing the tasks but will be able to use the experience to grow their own career. This is a win-win experience. Of course you may not have the luxury of selecting your own subordinate and have to take what you get.

Then of course strike a balance between delegating too little or too much.

What to delegate and to whom

Divide work into meaningful tasks and then allocate them to specialists or people who will benefit from the experience.

Allocate the work

This is the hardest and most important stage of delegation and generally involves a number of issues:

The subordinate must understand why the work needs to be done.
Where the applicable the manger should set specific performance standards for output, time, cost and quality, and involve the subordinate in the process. Furthermore sub goals and monitoring and reporting procedures should be agreed upon;
The manager should delegate responsibility, the subordinate must be allowed to make decisions to achieve agreed results.
The subordinate must be given authority or control over certain resources and people.
While the manager can delegate tasks and assign responsibility and authority for their. accomplishment, he will always be held accountable for the tasks his subordinates perform.

Monitoring performance

A manager should constantly monitor progress against standards and sub-goals. Recognition must be given for task accomplishment and preventative or corrective action instituted when targets are not being achieved. It's the monitoring of performance which keeps you in control and aware of the results of the work you delegate.

If tasks are delegated as part of a developmental program the manager should ensure that the subordinate receives proper training and guidance!

Benefits of successful delegation

Providing subordinates with the opportunity for growth and development

Motivating subordinates by giving them the opportunity to make decisions.
Allowing the manager more time for relevant managerial activities such as planning and controlling.
Facilitation communication and understanding between a manager and his subordinates.
Reducing the time taken to make decisions.
Allowing the decision making to take place close to the point of action where the detail is known.

Obstacles to successful delegation

There are a number of possible reasons which hold managers back from delegating. The reasons are;

The fear that subordinates will do a better job and get the recognition.
Fear that the subordinate won't be able to do the job properly.
The fear of losing control over activities and tasks for which he is accountable.
A feeling that it is important for him to be seen doing the work rather than purely managing.
Preference for doing the work itself as opposed to managing people.
A manager might have the technical skill to perform the task but not the managerial skill to see that someone else does it. In the long run delegation is an essential skill to learn. Never be scared to delegate your ability to delegate will assist you in growing your career more than being an absolute expert in some minor part of your job. As a manager you'll be able to monitor the performance and still stay on top of the work you've delegated. You will reap the rewards.

Good luck in your delegation!

Graeme Nichol Arcturus Advisors (www.arcturusadvisors.com)works with business leaders and their teams to close the gap between great strategies and mediocre results. (Newsletter arcturusadvisor@aweber.com)

Manage Your Time For Your Business Effectively

What call center manager can say that they have enough time in a day? None that I have ever met!

Here is an article by Court Tuttle with tips to manage your time more effectively.

Just as a well-run business follows a budget in spending money, an effective businessperson should also follow a schedule in spending time. And a carefully developed strategy should be formed to determine how to use time wisely.

You start by identifying the number one way you can most increase profits by use of your time, then the number two way, then the number three way, etc. This list of time priorities forms the foundation for your time planning for every week of the year.

Focus is crucial for time management and the fewer priorities you focus on at once, the more productive you will be. It is important to limit the number of strategic time goals you have for each week.

No matter how hard we try to be perfectly organized, there are only 24 hours in a day. We have no control over time, we can only control ourselves and what we do with the time we have. Even if you have ten goals for the year, you can focus on no more than one or two per any given week.

A good place to start is by eliminating your personal time-wasters. For one week, set a goal that you're not going to take personal phone calls. For one day observe behaviors that interfere with successful time management.

Many of us are prey to time-wasters that steal time we could be using much more productively. What are your time bandits? Do you spend too much time net surfing, reading email or making personal appointment calls?

Constant interruption kills any hope of effective time management. One way to avoid interruptions is to make clear that when your door is closed you are not to be disturbed. Another is to have regular meetings with the people you interact with the most at those meetings.

Next, ask yourself if you are spending too much time around the most congenial (and talkative) people, or not starting your schedule first? Are you jumping from one task to another because you are over whelmed?

Now you need to track your activities so you can form an accurate picture of what you actuality do. Start out weekly to make up a detailed time plan which you modify each day as needed until you have it down as a desired personal plan.

Except in times of crisis, try to make sure day-to-day issues don't push your strategic time priority list off your personal schedule. You can do it, you deserve it and it will reduce your stress.

Article Source: http://www.leadershiparticles.net

Court teaches people how to develop a small business opportunity and helps people get the best results from their internet marketing company.

Delegation with Confidence: Five Essential Steps

Being a Call Center manager usually means you have 5 or 6 balls in the air at any given time. Try Melissa Vokouns tips on delegation to make your work life easier.

By Melissa Vokoun

The old maxims "if you want something done right, do it yourself," don't address the busy manager with assignments and deadlines facing them everyday. Many managers find themselves limited simply by the hours in a day to meet the many demands confronting them. Giving up control and authority is a challenge that many managers fear more than working twelve hours a day six days a week.

But the effective manager is one who understands their limitations and has confidence in both their ability to delegate and their subordinates. There are five steps that insure that the delegation process will yield the best results for the manager and the recipient of delegated tasks.

  Clarify the assignment. Look carefully at the task and what is required to complete it. What steps are involved in the assignment? What knowledge is needed? Who in your organization is best qualified to assume this task? If you are not clear in your assignment the results will definitely be in jeopardy.

Finding the employee with the necessary skills and experience to do the job is only half the challenge. Once that employee is designated you have to be clear about what you want done. For best results, delegate the outcome of the assignment. Let your subordinate choose methods and strategies that they feel will best allow them to complete the assignment. Also long as you've made your goals clear, your chosen employee is the best person to determine the way to reach a positive outcome.

  Specify the range of authority. Every time you delegate a project you also delegate authority. But every assignment and the authority required have inherited constraints. It is fruitless to give an assignment and not delegate the authority needed to gather information, enlist others help, and utilize company resources.

When you clarify the assignment, examine how much authority is required and inform your designee of the range of discretion you are giving them. Be clear about constraints and limits that you are granting and the boundaries involved.

  Inform all affected parties that delegation has occurred. Your designee is going to need cooperation to complete the given project. Also, they are acting in your place and to avoid misunderstandings and confusion, let everyone know that you've delegated this task and to whom the task has been given. Failure to communicate with others will sabotage your employee's efforts.

Also, in all organizations where established lines of authority are clearly drawn, changes can cause uncertainty and concern about other members of your team. Avoid "water cooler gossip" by being upfront with your employees and communicate your trust that they will cooperate with your designee as they would cooperate with you.

  Allow your subordinate to participate. Employees that are encouraged to participate in the requirements, methods, degree of authority, and time frames of a given project are more motivated and enthusiastic in assuming tasks. When you give an assignment, draw on the thoughts and opinions of your subordinate to map out the assignment and your expectations.

This illustrates a manager's confidence in the recipient and their abilities. A cooperative spirit goes a long way to ensuring success. When employees feel they have a voice in a given project there is a higher degree of satisfaction, motivation, and accountability for performance.

  Establish an open line of communication for feedback and monitoring progress. As you set time tables and reporting guidelines, also make sure that your employee has a route for questions, advice, and concerns that may arise. Delegation is an ongoing process and communication is essential to its success. This communication should involve not only concerns of your subordinate but the managers concerns as the project progresses.

Periodic monitoring insures that problems along the way are dealt with in a timely and efficient manner. Each step involved in an assignment should have a corresponding time frame and specific reporting requirement. Mutual understanding and acceptance of these reporting requirements is vital to a smooth transition from your actions to the actions of your designee.

Delegation is an issue facing managers more and more as personnel budgets are tightened but demands on mangers time and expertise are growing. Delegating is not a sign of limitation or failure to meet expectations but a sign of a confident and secure manager who can draw upon the talent within their organization.

Indeed, delegation is the truest test of a manager's confidence. The mission of every manager must be trust in themselves and trusting the team they have assembled. After all, why build a great time if you don't use it's talents to the fullest degree?

Melissa Vokoun is a successful Business Advisor, Coach and Trainer. To learn more about the services available, please visit the website at: www.coachingqueen.com or call 847-392-6886.

How to Chair the Perfect Meeting

By Sharon Alexander

Preparing for a Meeting

Know how many people you want to attend the meeting and make sure everyone you want to attend receives an invitation. Ensure they respond to the invitation regardless of whether they can attend or not. This will make it easier when preparing documentation and other materials. Once you've determined how many people will be attending the meeting, preparing all materials including hand-outs, power point presentations, a meeting itinerary and other materials at least a week or two in advance will give you enough time to make changes or corrections.

Having help at this stage can make this process much smoother. If you need to send materials to those attending, do so as soon as you have them done. Create extra copies in case people forget to bring them to the meeting.

Starting the Meeting

Before the meeting starts, make sure you introduce yourself. This can make people feel more comfortable and relaxed. In order to chair a successful meeting, make sure all audio/visual equipment is working before the meeting starts. This will prevent the meeting from starting and ending later than it should. Open the meeting by explaining why it's necessary to meet and what you hope to accomplish by the end. Ask that everyone introduce each other. If you're following a specific itinerary, begin talking about the first topic. After a few minutes, people will begin asking questions and offering their opinions. While this is what you want during a meeting, you will need to ensure that everyone stays on track so all topics are covered in the time allotted.

Keeping the Meeting on Schedule

If you feel a discussion has gone on long enough, ask that everyone move on to the next topic. You can always return to the topic if there's time after the other topics have been discussed. Most people will agree and will move on. If someone in the meeting refuses to move on to the next topic, you may need to let them know that they are free to discuss it later. Your role as the chair of the meeting is to make sure that the meeting is productive, enlightening and informative to all who attend. If there is a need to return to a topic that was discussed earlier, use your best judgment and return to an earlier discussion when necessary. Closing a Meeting Once you've gone over all the topics on the itinerary, you should close the meeting by summing up what was learned. Allow those in the meeting to provide any final remarks and then end the meeting. While chairing a meeting can be stressful, if you are able to maintain control over the discussion topics and the length of time people spend talking about them, you can accomplish everything on your agenda in one meeting.

Copyright (c) 2008 Sharon Alexander

Article Source: http://www.leadershiparticles.net

Sharon Alexander is the author of the ebook Claim that Job.com - The Ultimate Job-Hunting and Career Management Guide that teaches the skills and techniques to succeed in a competitive job-market and in the work place. Launches on 5 February 2008. Click here to subscribe to our mailing list. www.claimthatjob.com .

How To Delegate Effectively

By S Lifland

Knowing how to delegate is not an inherent ability. Many managers, supervisors and even senior executives resist handing over tasks and responsibilities because of a variety of operational as well as personal reasons. They may be anxious about surrendering the control they have over various duties, or they may be afraid that subordinates will take exception to delegation. It is critical to rise above these obstacles because delegating effectively can have significant and comprehensive benefit for all involved, especially the company as a whole.

Carol Ellis, in the book Management Skills for New Managers (AMACOM, 2005), states the value of successful delegation: “Managers who delegate effectively have direct reports who are more capable and enthusiastic because of the delegation experience. A good manager knows that delegation is the way to achieve results through others.”
The American Management Association’s Delegation Boot Camp teaches principles that allow supervisors to delegate the appropriate amount of authority and accountability to the right individuals. The seminar provides many constructive recommendations for effective delegation:

Why Delegate At All?
Gains (to the delegator):

* Lessens personal workload, deadlines and pressure

* Frees your own time and energy for tasks that will provide larger benefits

* Makes people ready to handle work and decisions in your absence

* Trains colleagues about your job so you are free to be promoted

* Provides opportunity to assess persons’ ability to handle more responsibility and authority

Gains (to the delegatees):

* Cultivates skills and capabilities, providing experience in completing tasks and making decisions

* Prepares employees for promotion; how to handle more authority and responsibility

* More involvement increases their visibility and prestige within the enterprise

* Helps people feel more important and responsible

* Builds up enthusiasm and self-sufficiency

Gains (to the organization):

* Improves decision making and efficiency via increased participation and experience

* Increased skills, confidence and self-sufficiency builds a stronger, more flexible and more cooperative organization

* Provides an environment of collaboration, confidence and personal responsibility

* Displays the conviction people are important

* Supports unproblematic succession planning and the ability to promote from inside the organization

What Things Should Be Delegated?
Tip – Delegated duties and tasks should be “SMART”:

Specific

Measurable

Appropriate

Reachable

Timebound

Tasks that can be delegated:

* Recurring decisions and duties that others can manage

* Critical deadlines or priorities that you cannot handle, but others can

* Special initiatives not essential to core operations or long-range projects

* More detailed tasks on projects you are handling

* Duties that will help others develop in areas important to their career

What Things Should Not Be Delegated?
Avoid delegation of:

* Tasks private or personal in nature

* Duties that involve unreasonable risk to the delegatee

* Items that necessitate your personal expertise

* Duties that require personal leadership or relationships to succeed

* Items with any sort of legal restrictions

Examples of inappropriately delegated tasks:

* Evaluations of job performance

* Sensitive or confidential matters, especially those requiring disciplinary actions

* Duties that were assigned expressly and entirely to you

* Tasks outside of your area of responsibility, and which you are not authorized to delegate

* Critical circumstances where people need your own leadership or direction

* New projects that entail you personally setting an example or establishing standards

Stay away from delegating to people:

* Who are already overworked

* Who already have other high-priority duties

* Who cannot complete the task within the required timeframe

* Who lack the skills to successfully complete the task unless training will be provided as part of the task

* Who have effectively and repeatedly finished similar tasks, if there are other people available that could benefit from the experience

To improve your proficiency in delegating, the American Management Association offers a one-day Delegation Boot Camp that teaches effective delegation strategies that will make your employees more powerful and self-reliant, increase your and your staff’s productivity, and help lower your personal level of stress.

Article Source: http://www.leadershiparticles.net

Shari Lifland manages content for the American Management Association’s website, an organization that offers supervisor training, PMP exam prep, leadership seminars, and many other forms of effective management training. Shari also edits several AMA e-Newsletters, and is associate editor of MWorld.

7 Steps to Successful Delegation

By Benjamin Marshall

Benjamin is an internet marketing consultant and trainer who has helped expert authors publish digital content and information products on the internet. He is currently helping small businesses take advantage of global resources such as outsourcing and link building services.