What only you know
Delegating an activity: procedures and autonomy
Making a task workable by someone else, for real, not just on paper.
Objectives
- Break a task down into steps that can be carried out by someone who has never done it
- Write a checklist that stands up to use
- Organise back-up cover for critical tasks
- Distinguish delegating from abandoning, and set the corresponding checkpoints
Programme
- Morning: The task as seen by someone who does not know it: Why ‘I would rather do it myself’ is a diagnosis, not a character flaw · Breaking it down: inputs, steps, completion criteria, special cases · Writing the checklist and having a colleague test it there and then
- Afternoon: Back-up cover and oversight: Choosing the tasks that warrant back-up cover, and those that do not · The first run accompanied, the second observed, the third alone · Setting checkpoints that do not turn back into surveillance
Prerequisites
Have at least one person to delegate to, whether an employee or not.
What you take away
A critical task fully documented and tested by a third party.