Delegation is the process of assigning responsibility and authority for objectives. Telling employees to perform tasks that are part of their job design is issuing orders, not delegating. Delegating refers to giving employees new tasks. The new task may become part of a redesigned job, or it may simply be a one-time assignment. When managers delegate, they benefit by having more time to perform high-priority tasks, and they can spend more time away from the job and the work gets done.

Unfortunately, there are some obstacles to delegation, as managers become used to doing things themselves. Successful delegation is often based on selecting what to delegate and to whom to delegate. After determining what to delegate and to whom, you must plan for and delegate the tasks. Most managers haven’t been taught how to delegate successfully, so they aren’t good at it and are reluctant to delegate.

Delegating tasks quickly without details may seem expedient, but it tends to result in the task not being done the way you wanted or needed it done to meet your objective. This approach builds information flow into the delegation system from the start.