Many people are quite oblivious to what others are going through, and there’s not much you can do to change them. Let go of any frustration you might have over people not offering a helping hand; remember that it’s ultimately your job to communicate your needs.
Many people are quite oblivious to what others are going through, and there’s not much you can do to change them. Let go of any frustration you might have over people not offering a helping hand; remember that it’s ultimately your job to communicate your needs.
Even if you are the best at doing the work you plan to delegate, realize that delegating work allows you to do other things with your time. If you’re the best person in the office at the relatively monotonous task of assembling hard drives, but you’ve got an important presentation you need to prepare for, it’s O. K. to give the task to an intern. It’s much better for you to give difficult, complex tasks priority - don’t feel bad about delegating simple, repetitive tasks when you have more important things to do.
If you’re unsure of how, specifically, you should ask someone to do some work for you, try keeping things short and sweet. Say something like, “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute? I was wondering if you could help me assemble the big stack of hard drives we just got. I can’t do it because I’m out of the office today. Can you help me out?” Don’t pressure your helper, but be sure that s/he knows his or her help is needed. Ask and you shall (probably) receive. Don’t be afraid to delegate because you may be seen as rude or imposing. Look at it this way - how do you feel when people ask you to do something? Are you hurt and offended? Or are you (usually) perfectly willing to help? Probably the latter!
If you’re refused, consider your options - usually, you can politely but firmly insist that you really need this person to help (which will work especially well if you’re a boss or someone else with authority), you can try asking someone else, or you can do the work yourself. If you really need help, don’t be afraid to try options one and/or two!
This is also smart because it spares your time and your nerves. You want to be using the time that you’ve freed up to do something more important, not constantly worrying about how your helper is progressing.
Consider the time you spend training a helper to be a wise long-term investment. By spending a little time teaching your helper to do a task correctly, you save time in the future that might have otherwise been spent correcting his or her mistakes.
Make sure that whenever you’re complimented for a job you received help on, you mention your helper by name.
Be gracious. A simple heartfelt acknowledgement like, “I couldn’t have done it without you!” can go a long way. If the work that this person did for you was substantial, you may even want to buy him or her a meal, a drink, a thank you card, or a small present. [16] X Research source
