Delegation Skills for Leaders

One Day • Instructor-led

Getting promoted to the role of supervisor is a great achievement. Getting work done through others is a special challenge to all new supervisors, and even some established ones, but it is a skill that can be learned and mastered. The ability to thoughtfully delegate tasks involves four major functions–planning, organizing, motivating, and controlling. This course explains each of these areas and more. As a supervisor, you are responsible for the work of others, and taking the time to match tasks with employees’ special skills and abilities is the key to your success. The act of delegating work also involves honing your interpersonal skills, being able to judge the readiness of an employee to take on a project, and being able to instill confidence in that employee to get the job done. Finally, if you are having trouble entrusting others to perform specific tasks, this course will help you become more comfortable in sharing responsibility and letting go of the “I-can-do-it-all-myself” mindset.

Course Outline

Lesson 1: The Role of the Manager

  • Management and the Delegation Process
  • Organizing
  • Motivating
  • Controlling
  • Getting Work Done in Organizations
  • Technical, Human, and Conceptual Skills
  • What Can Delegating Do for Me?

Lesson 2: Analyzing Personal Delegation Skills

  • How Well Do I Delegate?
  • Am I Employing the Right People?
  • Developing Employees to Handle Complex Tasks
  • Symptoms of Poor Delegation
  • Common Barriers to Delegation
  • Removing Obstacles to Delegation
  • Dispelling Leadership Fears and Fallacies

Lesson 3: Preparing to Delegate

  • Analyzing Your Job
  • Deciding What to Delegate
  • Targeting Areas of Delegation
  • Selecting the Right Person
  • Criteria to Consider
  • Delegating to Develop Employees

Lesson 4: Carrying Out the Delegation

  • Communicating the Delegation
  • Getting the Results You Expect
  • Six Levels of Authority
  • Teaching Problem-Solving Techniques
  • Following Through
  • Solving Delegation Problems
  • Delegator’s Troubleshooting Guide
  • Monitoring Progress to Ensure Success

Lesson 5: Using Delegation for Managing Change

  • Change Requires Smooth Transitions
  • Understanding Resistance to Change
  • Adjusting Your Approach
  • Focusing Employee Efforts

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