See more "relay" images at office.com/imagesYou are a doer. You're a multi-tasking whiz kid, burning the midnight oil, taking the heat when the office burns down, and then putting out that fire. See, I used to be like that too. But then my family grew, and, well, it was a wake-up call to let me know that 1) I didn't need to do everything all by myself; and 2) I was not only stealing the thunder from my coworkers, I was also woefully under-utilizing (and under-exploiting, I guess) their considerable talents. So I learned the D word: Delegation.

Today, Monday, we'll go over the WHYs of delegation: why they're good, why they're important, and why they can make both projects and people more successful. Wednesday we'll get into the nitty-gritty of which Office programs can aid in your delegation quest; there are a LOT of these tools and features just sitting around, having a smoke break, and waiting to be used... So come back Wednesday and I'll teach you how to share your burden (and of course, your success—but of course, that lesson will be mentioned Wednesday).

The path to delegation is paved with good intentions

Like anything else you undertake, you can't just jump in there willy-nilly and start delegating everything to everyone. I did a little research and came up with this list to help you get started.

  1. Figure out why you haven't delegated before. Is it because you don't trust others to do the job? Or is it because you just don't want to take the time (or don't know how) to explain what needs to be done?
  2. Next, figure out what needs delegating. While you're at it, remember that there are some things that you should really keep for yourself (firing someone, writing performance reviews, volunteering to be a scout troop leader...).
  3. Find the best people for each task at hand.
  4. Clearly, patiently communicate exactly what you expect of them; give them lots of information and set specific goals.
  5. Shampoo, rinse, repeat and then...let go. Check up when necessary. Encourage feedback (giving and getting it—when necessary). Let go again.

Now that you have a better idea what to do, it's almost time to figure out just how to use various Office products and features to make sure your delegation is successful.

Share the information...and thereby the love

We're taught early on that sharing is good. And you know, it is good. For a lot of reasons. It's good because it relieves you of some of the burden, and it's good because it gives other folks a chance to get their hands dirty, so to speak. Wednesday I'll give you specific examples you can use to share some of your workload.

Here's a hint to whet your appetite: It will involve (among other things) passing off Outlook tasks (which isn't called that but I tend to call a spade a spade), and creating a public folder that your delegate can use to help you out.

Until Wednesday...think over the reasons why YOU could use some delegating advice in your life...

This blog post from the Outlook team (about Outlook 2007 but still applies to almost every version of Outlook since 2002)  gets into the 4 Ds: Delete it, do it, delegate it, or defer it. (And although #1 and # 4 have GOT to be everyone's faves, it's #3 we're interested in, which, when you really think about, combines all 4 of those Ds...)

 

— Crabby