Promoted, but still doing you old job?
Feeling overloaded? As a manager delegation is key to helping you manage your time effectively. If you’ve been promoted and find yourself still doing parts of your old job, is it time to change?
Are there tasks you could delegate to others? Think about it. Is there something you are doing that is no longer part of your core role? If so, ask yourself this question – why haven’t I delegated this task to someone else?
Your answer may be one of the following: -
I’m not sure how to delegate properly
I don’t want to delegate some things
It’s quicker to do it myself
There’s no one to delegate to
If you’re not sure how to delegate, try parceling up a discrete piece of work. Something you can clearly describe, along with any constraints or timescales. Be clear about what you expect. The process of trying to explain a task to someone else can be very helpful in clarifying exactly what it is you want to achieve.
If you don’t want to delegate – is it because you are happy in your comfort zone? You know your old job inside out and it's easy to carry on doing things that are not strictly part of your new role. If this is the case think about the opportunity cost of not moving out of your comfort zone. What are you missing out on? Are parts of your new job that are not getting done because you are still doing your old job? Perhaps you're reducing your bandwidth to accept tasks your boss would like to delegate to you. What’s the impact on your team? How will your boss view this?
It may be quicker to do some tasks yourself but how sustainable is that? Delegation is a learning opportunity, a chance for your team to develop and grow. Delegation promotes trust. It can help to build the capability and resilience of the team.
If there is no one to delegate to - think carefully about the task and your team. Can the task be redefined to make it more doable for someone, can it be broken down into smaller chunks that can be delegated. What could you delegate? If you weren’t there for some reason and one of your tasks had to be completed, what would have happened?
What are your thoughts? Can you make any changes? What would this look like?