Delegating responsibilities to others

Delegation is an important part of effective team management because gives it helps to manage your workload by giving the responsibility for a task to a team member. This gives you more time to work on other tasks, perhaps those that only you are able to carry out and can not be delegated.

For example, you may delegate the task of performing a drug stock check to a senior care worker so that you are able to complete the annual strategic review.

If a manager does not delegate tasks to their team, it can lead to them becoming overworked as they try to juggle everything themselves, which can result in work-related stress and have a negative impact on their own wellbeing. It can also result in teams that are disempowered, under-developed and that feel that their manager does not trust them.

To delegate effectively, you should ensure that the task is suitable for the team member’s knowledge and skillset and that they are clear about what is expected from them. They should also accept the responsibility that you give them. If the team member is learning to do something new then sufficient training and supervision should be provided until they become competent and confident enough to complete the task themselves.

It is also prudent to consider the team member’s interests and aspirations. For example, a team member that has discussed wanting to become a manager during their supervision will be far more motivated to perform management tasks than clinical tasks. Conversely, a care worker that wishes to work towards a nursing qualification will get far more satisfaction from performing clinical tasks.