Effective Delegation. Doing More With Less. Part 2

Delegation is an acquired skill. It is also a mindset. Research by David Maister in his book ‘Managing the Professional Service Firm’  showed that “for the typical professional service firm….. 40%-50% of the firm’s entire productive capacity is consumed with a higher-priced person performing a lower value task”.

In other words, poor delegation means that senior staff do work which does not require their skills and as a consequence the cost of the job is higher than it should be. This is poor use of available resources - definitely not ‘doing more with less.’

Other costs of under delegation include not developing others, low morale, people in ‘Disuse’, under utilised, leading to increased errors, sick leave and higher staff turnover. It also results in the business not being worked on, rather than in, by its most senior people.

To delegate well requires then, the right mindset and preparation (as discussed in Part 1). Here is a quick reminder. What is missing from it? I suggest you print off the page and fill in the missing detail, including point 7, from Part 1.

Part 3 of ‘Doing More With Less’ Effective Delegation, will look at who we delegate (assign the task) to. Until then - have a great week.