The Demands and Rewards of Management
By Varena Harding, CAPP
I have been a manager for over 10 years. One of the hardest tasks I have had to face as a manager is delegating. It was hard to let go of projects that I have overseen for years. It was hard to trust that my staff would do the work as well as I felt like I did it. It took me years to realize that being an effective leader meant that I needed to delegate to ensure the success of the operation and to give my staff the tools to succeed in their position.
Delegating improves efficiency and decreases the load on one person. It is a great way to develop your staff and free yourself up for bigger projects. When you delegate you show trust by giving ownership of work to someone else.
I find that most employees want to learn and be responsible for more tasks. I remember my employees asking me if there was anything I needed help with or anything they could learn. The old me would say no knowing I had a ton of work piled up and stressed to the max. That was me not trusting that they could do the work “correctly.” When really, I was setting them up to fail and not grow as an employee. That is not being an effective leader.
Delegating grows and develops your employees by giving them learning opportunities. You expand the strength and skills of your team by delegating. Delegating is not easy, especially when you are used to doing everything yourself, but delegation means preserving your time and using it in the most efficient way. And most importantly giving your team the opportunity to learn and grow.
Varena Harding, CAPP, is Operations Manager for REEF Parking. She can be reached at varena.harding@reefparking.com.
