From an old Latin line, festina lente, or hurry slowly, is the notion that if you do things too fast you’re likely to waste time going back to correct mistakes. To hurry slowly is to work carefully and methodically and it’ll be the fastest way to achieve the desired outcome.
If delegating successfully has eluded you in the past or you’ve avoided delegating for any manner of reason, follow the a structured step by step process to delegating. Give yourself permission to work through each step carefully and methodically so you can guarantee a successful outcome.
In summary here are the steps:
Once you are confident you have the steps, in hand, you will, like learning anything, find the process flows ever more quickly and smoothly.
“I don’t have time” is a common phrase managers say based on their normal, hectic day to day, let alone being able to delegate. Understanding how long you take to complete tasks is critical for your productivity, results and happiness.
If you truly struggle with having time to delegate, these will help you:
- Complete a time log: for two weeks track where you spend your time. Time logs are incredible for highlighting what consumes your time. Be honest will yourself, the more accurate you are with your time log the more value it will be for you, besides, no one else needs to see it! Once you can see how you spend your time it often reveals where you can reduce wastage.
- Schedule time to think into your day, everyday! It only needs to be a small amount of time yet it gives you incredible peace and space to think and plan your day or week or delegations. Many managers I work with schedule anywhere from 10 minutes to 45 minute of 100% thinking and planning time per day. It all comes down to whether your day rules you or you rule your day.
- Read The Productive Leader: How to Achieve More, Reduce Stress and Gain 2 Hours Per Day: Sure, a shameless plug for my book but it does provide insight, tips and strategies for improving personal productivity as well as helping your team be more productive.
An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing.
When you hurry slowly, which is really me tell you to stop and plan, you will gain so many more benefits to your delegating:
- The delegating process will stay on course giving you and the delegate a greater sense of control.
- The objective – the desired outcome – will be clear or you’ll have the right environment to ensure clarity.
- While planning will include some ‘educated guessing’, it’ll be more accurate the more you do it.
- Delegating priorities, that is, who does what and when, will be more obvious.
- Work will be completed on time more often, and cost far less.
- Tracking performance will become much easier, you’ll chase up less because you both agree on tracking.
- You’ll start to see budget improvements.
- Course correction will be easier, faster and cheaper as issues and hiccups will be seen sooner and not be left, hidden, or be harder and costlier to fix.
Slow is fast! You owe it to yourself and your team.
I’d love to know your thoughts…
Image source: Wikipedia
