MASTERING DELEGATION SKILLS

Course:   MDS
Duration:   1 Day
Level:   I
On our website at:   http://www.verhoef-training.com/courses/MDS.html
 
Course Summary

Managers who are good at overseeing projects and daily tasks understand the value of delegation. They are able to balance workloads, focus on strengths, and develop others. This fast-paced, intensive, interactive one-day workshop focuses exclusively on delegation skills.

You get real-world practice in delegation strategies that will reduce your stress level, empower your staff, and build morale. Put this delegation skills training to work for you to pinpoint the right task, the right time, and the right person to help you maximize productivity for you and your team. During this workshop, we will explore the value of delegating, delegation models, barriers to successful delegation, and a proven process for generating buy-in, confirming authority, monitoring tasks, and rewarding good performance.

By the conclusion of this course, participants will have a firm idea of how delegation will help them manage their time and projects. In addition, participants will know how to implement a range of tactics for assigning and managing work when back on the job.

Topics Covered In This Course

Welcome and Introductions

  • Course objectives

What is Delegation?

  • Definition of delegation.
  • Why managers don't delegate.

Why Delegate?

  • Participants will explore delegation challenges, the advantages and disadvantages of delegating, and how their work life could improve if they leverage delegation correctly.
  • To generate buy-in and highlight the importance of dividing work, group members will work in teams in a paired exercise and group discussion.

The Effects and Benefits of Good Delegation

  • Benefits of effective delegation.
  • Managers past experiences of delegation.
  • Key principles for effective delegation.
  • Group exercise with presentation, group discussion and review.

The Role of the Manager

  • Management and the delegation process
  • Planning
  • Organizing
  • Motivating
  • Controlling
  • Getting work done in organizations
  • Technical, human, and conceptual skills
  • What can delegating do for me?
  • Case Study: The Do-It-Yourself Manager
  • Case Study: The Hands-Off Supervisor

Analyzing Personal Delegation Skills

  • How well do I delegate?
  • Am I employing the right people?
  • Developing employees to handle complex tasks
  • Symptoms of poor delegation
  • Common barriers to delegation
  • Removing obstacles to delegation
  • Dispelling leadership fears and fallacies
  • Case Study: Letting False Obstacles Get in the Way

A Model Approach: Learning the Steps in Delegation

  • This part of the workshop examines the delegation process. Working in teams, participants will draw on their existing knowledge of delegation and construct a model.
  • Next, the groups will share their models and compare them with well-known delegation frameworks.
  • This activity will provide us with an opportunity to discuss the process of delegating and the importance of a methodical and consistent approach to delegation.

Who Is the Right Person for the Task and how do you Ignite their Passion?

  • Not all people are suited for all tasks: ?Good? delegation is being reliable at matching people with tasks.
  • Participants will explore tools for determining who should do what.
  • Discussion: the importance of getting buy-in from others and how to do it.
  • Motivate?motivate?motivate?a how-to on motivation.
  • Multi-step checklist to ensure participants cover all the bases when delegating.

Preparing to Delegate

  • Analyzing your job
  • Deciding what to delegate
  • Identifying core team skills using Team Skills Matrix
  • Identifying tasks for delegation
  • Targeting areas of delegation
  • Planning the delegation
  • Selecting the right person
  • Criteria to consider
  • Delegating to develop employees
  • Individual exercises, group review
  • Case Study: Different Plans for Different Employees

How to Delegate Effectively

  • An exercise in how not to delegate
  • What we can learn from this exercise
  • The art of delegation - six steps to effective delegation
  • Delegation preparation checklist
  • Assigning tasks for delegation
  • Facilitator demonstration and whole group exercise, individual exercise with group learning review

A Measure of Authority: How Do You Avoid Hot Water?

  • The four levels of authority that can be assigned when delegating and when each is appropriate.
  • Participants will learn how to give better instructions, and they will practice giving direction.

Carrying Out the Delegation: Communicating delegated tasks

  • Communicating the delegation
  • Delegation communication checklist
  • Conveying delegated task to team member
  • Review of checklist and short practice sessions in pairs with learning review
  • Getting the results you expect
  • Six levels of authority
  • Teaching problem-solving techniques
  • Following through
  • Solving delegation problems
  • Delegator's troubleshooting guide

Asking Not Telling: The Value of Questions

  • Questions can spark curiosity, ignite creativity, and generate a sense of project or task ownership.
  • Participants will explore the value of questions in the delegation process and role play several delegation scenarios.
  • The value of questions when delegating to different types of people: the shining star, the apprentice, the reluctant employee, and others.

Recording and Prioritizing Delegated Tasks

  • Recording and prioritizing long and short-term goals and tasks
  • Completing action plans for delegated tasks
  • Presentation using example templates, individual exercise and group review

Monitoring Progress of Delegation and Providing Feedback

  • A major part of the process ? monitoring.
  • Monitoring progress to ensure success.
  • What happens when people aren?t recognized for doing a good job or coached when they get stuck on completing some aspect of a task.
  • How do you motivate when someone loses interest in taking on more tasks?
  • The importance of following up and tips and tricks for monitoring tasks without turning into a micromanager.
  • Asking questions to review progress
  • Reviewing performance
  • Giving feedback and recognition
  • Instructor demonstration of techniques, practice sessions and group review

Using Delegation for Managing Change

  • Change requires smooth transitions
  • Understanding resistance to change
  • Adjusting your approach
  • Focusing employee efforts
  • Making employee commitment possible
  • Ten traps to avoid
  • A delegation checklist

Conclusion of Workshop

  • Applying the learning
  • Developing a Personal Action Plan
  • Reviewing the learning and next steps
  • Course feedback
What You Can Expect

To use effective delegation as a key tool to motivate and challenge subordinates and peers. The training examines all considerations that need to take into account before, during and after a task has been delegated.

At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will be able to:

Who Should Take This Course

For managers, supervisors, project managers, and team leaders who have direct reports or who work in a team environment and want to enhance their own productivity and focus on their business objectives by delegating tasks and projects to their team members.

Recommended Prerequisites

None

Training Style

Instructor-led, group-paced, classroom-delivery learning model with structured hands-on activities and case studies.

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Every student attending a Verhoef Training class will receive a certificate good for $100 toward their next public class taken within a year.

You can also buy "Verhoef Vouchers" to get a discounted rate for a single student in any of our public or web-based classes. Contact your account manager or our sales office for details.