Ever have so much going on that it doesn’t feel like there’s even enough time to ask anyone for help? Or have you wanted to reach out to your team members for help but wound up just keeping all the work yourself because it was too complicated figuring out what you could safely and fairly give away, who you should delegate it to and how you could make sure work still got done well and on-time once you handed it over to others?
If so, you aren’t alone, according to Jennie Petrovich, an MSU Organization and Employee Development consultant. Petrovich, who also oversees the education and training provided to MSU employees through the office of Human Resource Development, said that becoming more effective at delegation can make life better for both the delgator and the people being delegated to, while also improving the overall quality of the work accomplished.
“We get a lot of requests from MSU employees to help them become more comfortable with and effective at delegation,” Petrovich said.  “Delegation is both an art and a skill. Do it well, and everybody benefits. Do it badly, and it can wind up increasing everyone’s stress load and hurting the quality of the work.”
On Wednesday, December 7, from 8:30 a.m. to Noon, HRD will be offering a half-day class on effective delegation called Delegation for Results. Class facilitator Debra Nelson Dunbar will help participants learn:
• What delegation is and what it is not
• What the manager’s role is in effective delegation
• When delegation is appropriate and when it is not
• How to grapple with the difficult issues of responsibility, authority and accountability in the delegation process.
“We understand that it can be a hard choice to invest a half of a day in training when your to-do list looks a mile long and deadlines are looming,” Petrovich said. “But investing a morning in picking up new skills that can help you harness the help of others can go a long way toward making those to-do lists and deadlines more manageable and less stressful.”
As 2011 winds down, it’s a great time to squeeze in some professional development and acquire new skills that can give you the gift of a less stressed and more effective 2012.
Useful Links
View a step by step video of how to register for an HRD Class