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6 Tips for Delegating Effectively Do you remember the Little Red Hen? She wanted to bake some bread. She asked some friends to help with the various tasks, such as harvesting the wheat, taking it to the gristmill, gathering the ingredients, and making the dough. All her friends refused. The Little Red Hen replied "Then I will do it myself." On the day when the delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted out of the Little Red Hen's kitchen, her friends arrived, asking for some. The Little Red Hen flatly refused to share her bread, of course.

Although we can admire the Little Red Hen for her industriousness, we can also wonder why her attempts at delegation and teamwork failed. The Little Red Hen wasn't a leader. She didn't know how to create a team or share her vision.

For business owners and managers, delegation is an essential skill, and a leadership responsibility. The hazards of doing everything yourself can include burnout and missed deadlines. You may get stretched too thin, or find that you don't have all the skills needed for the job. That's when it's time to delegate.

Delegating multiplies your effectiveness, so you can use your time and talents where they make a difference. Besides streamlining your work and saving time, delegating teaches you to communicate persuasively, supervise and train, and expand your sphere of influence. It means building and maintaining a team. In the long run, delegating may help you make even more "bread!"

How do you get people to share the work and take on extra projects? How do you get people to share your vision and goals? How do you delegate?

At this point you may be thinking, "Look, I pay people to do their jobsso all I have to do is tell them what to do and they will do it." People want more than a salary. They want job satisfaction. Job satisfaction is especially important in small businesses where the "staff" may be family members, volunteers, parttimers, and employees who wear multiple "hats," and the where compensation may not be luxurious.

You can help your staff stretch their talents, and grow through teamwork, new skills, and problem solving. Delegating gives more people a stake in the outcome. Delegation is more than hiring and managing peopleit is guiding, inspiring, and motivating them. Here are six steps for doing it superbly.

1. Select people for the job, and motivate them

Define the scope of the work based on the outcomes, products, and deliverables. Break out the tasks or steps that will accomplish the work. Decide on project milestones and define realistic completion dates for each one. Then delineate the steps for each task and decide how the skill sets that are needed.

Next, identify the people for each task. Look for dependability and motivation as well as skill. The way you present a task can bolster someone's willingness to participate, or to stretch beyond their comfort zone, and follow through. When you delegate a new job to someone, covey enthusiasm and emphasize the importance of the project in a positive manner. Describe the task to people in ways that appeal to their needs and values.