Why You Need to Delegate Tasks at Work, and when You Should Delegate

It does not take long working in an office setting to discover the two extremes of delegating tasks: the Control Freak and the Desk-Clearer. Whether from desire for job security or from an obsession with everything being done his own way, the Control Freak hates to delegate anything. The Desk-Clearer is firmly the opposite. The overworked employees beneath him can certainly handle his newest project as well.

Neither of these attitudes is conducive to an efficient, productive office that turns out quality work. Delegating tasks is a necessity in the office. When it is done right, delegation of tasks can improve efficiency, quality and productivity.

To keep things running smoothly, even the Control Freak must occasionally delegate. Also, it does no good to be a Desk-Clearer. Over-stressing subordinates can lead to lower work quality, more missed time, and higher employee turn over.

It takes a strong person - and a good leader - to effectively delegate tasks. There are two main times when you should choose to delegate office tasks to other employees.

Delegate for Quality

The first and most frequent situation is when you are overloaded. You should not decide to delegate tasks simply because you would like more free time or because you do not want to work as hard.

When your work load reaches a point where quality becomes a concern, it is time to delegate. Too many projects combined with too many late nights can wear you a little thin. If the quality of your work suffers or you begin to miss deadlines, this will affect the company. It is best to delegate a task or two before you reach that point.

Some people get caught by the fear that to delegate a task shows they are weak, incompetent, or unable to keep up with their work. The truth is just the opposite. Delegating tasks to make sure that everything is well handled shows a good view of the big picture, as well as a dedication to the company's interests.

The best thing for the company as a whole is to keep your office running smoothly. You and your employees should have enough time to do quality work on each task and complete tasks by or before their deadlines. This is why you should delegate when you are overloaded.

Delegate for Even Distribution

The second situation in which you should delegate is when one of your subordinates needs more to do. This can be a little more difficult to determine, unless your employees are conscientious enough to let you know that their work load is light.

Keep an eye out for employees who seem to have an excessive amount of free time. Also, watch for those who do not seem to have a lot going. They may always be busy, but ask yourself what their output is. If you have trouble identifying it, they may need a new task.

While you should not be a Desk-Clearer, it is important to keep the work load in your office fairly even. Employees who do not have enough work to do are costing the company money. Also, this may cause resentment from their busier co-workers.

Morale and employee turn over are costly issues and should be important to you and your office. Your employees will be more productive when their work loads are most even. If you are not overworked yourself, you may chose to delegate one employee's tasks to another employee to adjust their work loads. This is why you should delegate when work is not evenly distributed.

**Those are the two main circumstances that call for delegating tasks in the office. You may find other times that it would be helpful to restructure the work loads of employees and redistribute tasks. Please look for the other articles in this series to explain how to delegate properly, how to follow up properly with delegated tasks, and how to handle delegated tasks that you receive.