Great work is never done by one person alone. Do you ever feel like you work so hard, yet you consistently end up with the same results that are simply satisfactory? I know the feeling. Why is it that when you work in groups on a project, it is not always a fair collective effort, as in everyone puts in the same amount of work? For instance, when I work in a group, I feel that I put in tons of more effort than some of my other group members. Part of the problem is that I have now made these members dependant on me to get the job done simply because I stood up and took a leadership position. However, often times group members are willing to put in the same amount of effort as I am, though, having taken a leadership, I may not be giving the members tasks to be efficient as a whole. Eventually, the project would be done to a superior level of quality in half the time it would have taken me if I had done it solo. This is the ART OF DELEGATION. “Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results,” George S. Patterson once said (5). Delegation is the strategy of breaking up and dividing tasks to be distributed to group members for the completion of an overall project. For instance, if your class is assigned a history project and your group must pick five events to analyse and discuss in paragraph format. Your group has four members; for all the mathematicians out there, five tasks cannot be divided evenly by four people. In this case, you must put your thinking cap back on and strategize (another leadership skill that is super beneficial)! There is a way to work around every obstacle; you could delegate one task to each group member and split the fifth five ways. You are probably wondering, “how can one task be split up into five parts?” Once again, another obstacle that a leader must learn to overcome. Yes, a group project is a collective effort of every group member contributing their fair share, though the typical point is to encourage the collaboration of varied ideas to form a unique whole. With this being said, it is equally as important to work collaboratively on one singular task as it is to complete different tasks individually and put it together to form a whole. Both these methods will produce unique work, though, work that is collaboratively done rather than in individual roles will cultivate unified work, which is ultimately the accomplishment that is seeking achievement. “Delegation is not a sign of weakness; it’s a sign of a strong leader,” Genevieve Conti explains in her blog post, “A guide to delegating tasks effectively.” In her post, she outlines some of the most evident reasons as to why people tend not to delegate tasks:
For delegation to be effective, a leader must be courteous to their team, checking in with them to ensure that the method of delegation is well implemented and functioning, “[It is important to remember that]....[d]elegation does not mean dumping responsibility on another person. It is not offloading things that you don’t feel like doing. It is also not seeking help to finish things at the last minute.” I have learned to use this skill not only in school but with my organization, Sports For Smiles, as well. At the beginning of last year, I was spending hours and hours on attempting to get my project off the ground, though I was not getting as much as out of it as I was putting in to it, and it was not soaring at the rate that I had thought it would. I was swamped with school, work, sports, and other commitments; I was not able to religiously dedicate the entire weekend, per say, to working on the project. At that point, I was not being an effective leader. I was simply overworking myself because I thought that I could get everything done myself. That is when I approached my team and began sorting out ways to split tasks so that every member was each contributing an equal amount. I began DELEGATING tasks with my discretion of who would be the best for a specific task, and based on preferences of the members. Not only did this lower my stress level in a management position, but it also helped my organization soar to new heights. We achieved more in six months than I did in a year on my own! For perfectionists, like me :), it is often times difficult to leave things in the hands of others as it may not be done to your “desiring quality.” This is understandable, however it is important to be compatible and flexible when in a leadership position. For those whom are studious, treat this skill as your “cheat sheet” for success in academics. Those whom are sporty, delegation can be your tactic to success in a game; you cannot dribble from your end all the way down the field, attempt to deke all eleven players out and not expect to lose the ball.
Great work is done with the collaboration of many diverse ideas, forming a whole that is superior. Janeva S
7 Comments
Jacob Enns
9/24/2018 10:45:07 am
I’m not really a big fan of delegation because I prefer to do things my self, I find if I want something g done I have to do it myself, this blog kinda helped me understand the reason behind it, yes it gets rid of some of the weight, yet it adds weight. It’s a double edged sword, you may think dekegating a task to someone else is taking the work load off you but really for me it just means I have to think about if they are going to do it right or not. If your on a tight schedule and you delegate a task to someone else, I find that it will only put more stress on the delegator. The blog was done very well, it was quite enjoyable to read, it opened up my rayed in some parts but didn’t help with others.
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Christina
9/24/2018 10:46:00 am
I thought your blog was fantastic!! I really liked how you were able to connect to the topic with something close and personal to you! I also really loved the analogies you used if your academic or if your sporty!
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Georgia
9/24/2018 10:47:24 am
Good blog! I like the quote you put in by Patterson, i think it sums up what being a leader and delegating tasks should be about. I agree with you that normally when someone takes on a leadership role that thy are expected to do most of the work and that sucks, so I like that you wrote your blog on something that we can all relate to and learn from.
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Martin Gao
9/24/2018 10:47:59 am
Thanks for sharing some of the ways to delegate other in a group. I love the quote you used said by Patterson, If you never give other people a chance then you can only assume that they can't surprise you.
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Anna Robinson
9/24/2018 10:48:25 am
I feel that her blog was very informative and well written. It had great references that I could look at to answer even more of my questions. The writer was able to capture the main idea of the topic she was writing about, and relate it to her own experiences. Through that, she wrote a very fascinating blog!
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jack chadd
9/24/2018 10:56:08 am
Very informative and interesting blog. During school there are a lot of group projects, and most of the time there are leaders in the group but they dont like to delegate. They all seem like they want to do it all themselves.
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Meagan E.
10/30/2018 11:09:44 pm
I enjoyed reading your blog. I think it's interesting that you talk about delegation. I always used to struggle at work because my pride would not allow me to ask for help. This article definitely provided me with some excellent advice on how to delegate work. I'm currently in a course about learning in workplaces and this section of your blog fits well with what I am learning. Thank you!
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