Successful managers have one common trait... and that is, effective delegation skills!
Many a time one sees outstanding team players fail miserably as team leaders primarily because they are unable to delegate tasks appropriately.
There could be two major reasons behind a manager's "fear of delegation":
Quality Would Suffer: Firstly, the manager feels that he is best qualified to do the task. Therefore, if he delegates the same to a team member, the quality of work is bound to suffer and finally the task would have to be redone by him... so he prefers to do the job himself.
Pressed For Time: Secondly, the manager feels that the time taken to train others on a particular task would eat into the already challenging delivery timeline of the project... so it makes more sense for him to do the work himself and not risk missing the deadline.
In both the above cases, the manager feels that he is actually being "responsible" by taking the onus upon himself to save the organisation from any blushes. Though the intentions of the manager cannot be doubted, he doesn't understand that by not delegating tasks to his team members, he is actually doing more harm than good to the organisation.
An effective manager:
- Recruits the right team.
- Trains team members with the relevant job skills.
- Delegates work to the team members, and then... ALLOWS THEM TO FAIL a few times before they can work with minimal or no supervision!
By providing opportunities to sub-ordinates to develop new skills and take up more responsibilities, the manager helps build a strong and motivated team. This, in turn, paves the way for all stakeholders (team members, manager and the organisation) to grow and flourish.
