1.         Choose the appropriate people by interviewing and placing your members carefully. Consider his/her time, interest and capabilities. Specific responsibilities to be delegated to a particular person must be appropriate for the growth of that person at that time.

2.         Explain why they were selected for this task.

3.         Delegate segments that make sense; not bits and pieces of a task, but share the “big picture”. People like to know how their segment will help the larger program.

4.         Discuss the task at hand. Discuss ideas; mutually set goals and objectives.

5.         Whenever possible, give those who will be responsible for carrying out a program a voice in the decision-making. Do not lower standards; don’t insult your members!

6.         Define clearly the responsibilities being delegated to each person. Explain what is expected of them and what the bounds of authority are. Be sure agreement is reached on areas where the person can function freely. The end result is important, not the various steps. Everyone accomplishes tasks differently.

7.         Find out how you will know when they need help. Make sure they understand you are willing to assist but must first be told when and how you can help. Give accurate and honest feedback. People want and deserve to know how they are doing. This is both an opportunity for giving satisfaction and encouraging growth. Allow for risk-taking and mistakes.

8.         Support your officers and committee chairs by sharing information, knowledge and plans with them. It is incredible how many errors are made simply due to a lack of information. Share in their failures as well as their successes.

9.         Delegate. Most responsible people do not appreciate someone looking over their shoulder, or taking back parts of their assignment before they have a chance to do it. As a leader, it can be hard for you to “let go;” you like being in the driver’s seat. Let them do the job! Delegating does not eliminate work, it simply changes it. As you delegate appropriately, a multiplier effect occurs.

10.       Follow up. Check periodically to see if people have any questions regarding how a project is supposed to be done. This will also let you know how that individual is progressing on the task. There is a fine line between delegating and following-up.

11.       Evaluate. You must not overlook the need to evaluate and measure the extent to which actions conformed to plans, if the plans went well or if the original plans were appropriate and worthwhile. Use appropriate feedback techniques. One of your most important roles as a leader is to help your members to learn and grow through both their successes and their failures! Your members are your greatest resource. Let them create and turn their creativity interaction! 

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 14th, 2009 at 6:02 pm and is filed under Step To Call Center Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.