Last week, over at Performance I Create, I wrote a post entitled “How To Delegate Effectively.” This week, I’m continuing my advice on how to effectively delegate here.

In part 1 at PIC, the focus was on the reasons to delegate and ensuring clear understanding of tasks delegated.

In part 2, the focus is on the who of delegating effectively.

The hardest part of delegating is believing the other person can carry the task through to completion with the level of excellence you envision and expect. You have to be confident in your own decision-making as well as the abilities of others. Trust is the heart of how to delegate effectively.

When deciding who to delegates tasks to, consider the following:

• Their knowledge. The person should have an appropriate level of knowledge and the skills needed to complete the task assigned. Without this, the person will struggle and the work will suffer.
• Their independence. The person should be able to organize, execute and troubleshoot their way through completion of the task assigned without constant supervision. Without this, both you and the person will feel frustrated and the work will be delayed.
• Their goals. The person should have an interest in the subject matter of the task — or the task should be related to the work the person currently performs in his/her job role. Without this, the person will either be unenthusiastic or distracted and the work will suffer.
• Their workload. The person’s workload should allow sufficient time to complete the task assigned within time and budget constraints. Without this, both you and the person will feel stressed and the work will be delayed.

Another thing to consider is the position of the person respective to you. Delegation happens laterally or down. Never up. I’m sorry to be the one to break it to you but delegating upward is just whining. It demonstrates lack of accountability, creativity, resilience and vigor.

Do not do it.

That’s not to say that people who aren’t the boss don’t get overwhelmed or need help and guidance. It happens to people every day. However, when that happens, you cannot just give work back to your boss. Don’t just bring uncompleted tasks to the table — bring suggestions on who and how to get the work done in a way that results in effective delegating.

Because when delegating is done with the right spirit, everyone wins.