Management training will assist with the development of efficient delegation as a management skill. Delegation that is done properly will be worth its weight in gold in assisting to save time and efficiently distribute resources.

As a leader, there are a vast sphere of factors affecting the status of success that could be reached. To be able to delegate work and man-manage most efficiently could be a valuable skill to have. Being a good leader or manager is not necessarily being able to do the work capably on your own, but to be able to convey the task to staff and for them to carry it out correctly as well - this can be the secret to success.

Perhaps one of the more challenging tasks a leader could be presented with is how to best divide workload amongst the staff that they look after. Many managers consume their 9-5 day feeling snowed under, suffocated by an apparently unending heap of work. Very much like trying to chisel away at an iceberg armed only with a toothpick, the feeling of having an unlimited workload can push you to feelings of emptiness and panic, greatly affecting a leader's effectiveness. This can all be ended by bestowing a pivotal management skill - that of delegation.

Delegation is summed up as the designation of power to another individual to conduct the specific job-related activities. It warrants a subordinate to make choices; that is, it is a shift of decision-making authority from one structural level to one that is below.

The facility to master the art of delegation would hugely affect a manager's capability to move further in their career. The on-going betterment of staff is an essential factor in company-wide success.

That being said, leaders should be careful in not delegating bad or demotivating projects for the sake of it, to meanly bypass having to carry it out themselves. They should also try to avoid micromanaging work or instructing specifically how the task at hand should be conducted - if this is true then they might as well have done the job themselves instead of including themselves as well as another person. 'Dumping' and 'abdication' may leave staff demoralised and unhappy and hence play no part in an efficient delegation plan of action.

Effective delegation can be attained in numerous ways. Here's six guidelines:

• Deciding on the best tasks to delegate - you should try to only delegate tasks which don't need judgement. Your judgement is trusted, hence why you are a leader, therefore make sure someone else doesn't make a decision that you should have made.

• Pass the job to the right individual - think about who to pass on the task to, determined by the delegate's skill set.

• Make sure your communication is clear - make clear to the subordinate specifically what's required and what you expect. You could be sure the assignment is progressing as you would've liked by sometimes checking in on the development of the task.

• Be sure each individual has the correct equipment and adequate knowledge for the job. Extra responsibility should motivate workers, but not if they feel out of their depth with the task at hand.

• Establish accountability - make sure that the subordinate realises when the deadline is in addition to the significance of making sure that it's complete by that time, for example the consequences if it's late. As it was your initial decision to delegate the task, the blame will land on your shoulders if the work hasn't been completed in time.

• Provide feedback and communication on an on-going basis - check on the job's progression, that way you can check to see if it will be completed in time as well as to the standard that's needed.