We all have the same amount of time in our day. Those of us with big dreams and lots of responsibilities can benefit from prioritization and delegating tasks to others. 

Jamar Cobb-Dennard recently led a helpful discussion on this topic in a recent webinar sponsored by Oracle NetSuite. 

Of course time savings is a key reason to delegate, but the power of delegation goes much beyond this. Delegating elevates others, provides excellent training opportunities, and can even encourage innovation.

When delegating, we want to choose the right tasks and also the right people. Jamar explained that important and urgent tasks are desirable to delegate when seeking to develop others. Tasks like monthly financial reports and cross-functional projects provide the preparer/leader with hands on responsibility and visibility within your organization. When delegated to high-potential and competent staff members, they will feel valued and you will enjoy the satisfaction of elevating your team while making time in your schedule for your next focus area.

Jamar highlighted the importance of recognizing the learning style of the person you are delegating to. The VARK acronym encompasses 4 primary styles: Visual, Aural, Read/Write, and Kinesthetic. Check out the VARK Questionnaire to discover your learning style and ask your team members to identify theirs by taking the quiz. Providing tailored training based on individual learning styles can make the difference between effective delegation and a project flop. Check out the recording for specific advice on how to delegate to someone based on their exact learning style: Delegation for CFOs

Jamar provided 8 Steps for Effective Delegation:

1. Explain the importance of the task
2. Explain how to do the task
3. Describe expected results
4. Give the "delagatee" authority
5. Set deadline & checkpoint
6. Ask for summary
7. Ask for questions
8. Say thank you

And of course, we wanted to share with you a few things to avoid: micro-managing, dumping a project without any instruction or check-ins, failing to communicate expectations or check-in, expecting perfection, and taking the work back.

Delegation is a delicate balance of setting expectations and providing support while giving the task owner space to get the job done. With some pre-planning and forethought, you can make delegation a strength to help you accomplish your professional and organizational goals.

For more on team collaboration, join us for NetSuite's webinar on Design Thinking next month: https://encoursa.com/companies/netsuite

About Our Sponsor

Founded in 1998, Oracle NetSuite is the world’s first cloud company. For more than 20 years, NetSuite has helped businesses gain the visibility, control and agility to build and grow a successful business. First focused on financials and ERP, we now provide an integrated system that also includes inventory management, HR, professional services automation and omnichannel commerce, used by more than 31,000 customers in 217 countries and dependent territories.