Are You Delegating Tasks or Just Being Lazy?

Manager Delegating Tasks
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Delegating tasks is an effective way of managing a team to have a smooth work process and effective time management. However, in some cases, work delegation turns into laziness. People tend to take advantage of their authority or seniority to dump their responsibilities on others to make their lives easier. Although offloading some work and having others handle it for you is ok, but doing so just because you don’t feel like it is not.

Signs of lazy leadership and work delegation

Some managers don’t seem to notice when they’re just being lazy. Even if they do they believe their position in the company supports such actions. Yes, employees are being paid to do their job, however, their job has limitations and they have more urgent matters to attend to. Here are some signs to recognize a lazy boss:

1. Delegates tasks without clear instructions

When you’re given a task, you expect it to be clear and concise so you can execute it properly. However, it can be quite frustrating when a manager gives vague instructions and expects employees to do it according to how he wants it to be done. You can’t expect someone to do something without relaying all the details they need to know. Employees can’t give their best if they don’t fully understand the task at hand.

Also, even if you’ve already explained it to one employee, it doesn’t mean everyone else already knows about it, unless you conduct a general meeting of some sort. When a different employee handles the task for the first time, you still need to repeat the same instructions. This will require patience on your part as a manager or superior.

2. Turn over responsibilities to avoid workload

As I’ve mentioned earlier, it’s ok to delegate tasks to offload some work and focus on other urgent business matters. However, if you intend to dump your responsibilities just so you can spend the day browsing the internet or doing other unrelated work matters is definitely not ok. Not to mention, doing this will decrease your employees’ morale and you’ll be branded as a lazy boss.

3. Constantly put the blame on others

A boss who refuses to accept accountability often blames others. Their pride hinders them from accepting their mistakes and they spend their time searching for faults instead of solutions. Blaming others tends to be their easy way out, especially when things fall apart or a project does not succeed. They even resort to fear or threats thinking it’s the best way to make employees work beyond their capabilities. As a result, they’re unable to identify the root cause of the problem to mitigate the situation and plan the best course of action. 

4. Asks for information that are easily accessible

It’s understandable to want to get an update regarding a project’s status, specifically ones that are on a tight deadline. However, if you’ve already created a system wherein the status or reports are continuously updated but still choose to get the update directly from a subordinate, then that defeats the purpose of the system. When you refuse to take the time to look at the reports yourself, it causes unnecessary extra work for others.

Conclusion

There’s a fine line between delegating tasks to ease the business process and using it to take advantage whenever possible. The former is done for the convenience of everyone, while the latter is done for the benefit of one or a few people. Being a lazy boss will damage your reputation and may affect your relationship with coworkers in the future. To avoid such things from happening, take time to assess how you’re delegating tasks to others. Understand that no matter the outcome, you are still responsible for it.

Striving Millennial
Striving Millennial is a place where like-minded individuals can empower each other while navigating our way through life's challenges & striving to overcome each obstacle.

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