I sometimes sound like a broken record when delivering training programs to managers. “Delegate! Delegate! Delegate!” I say. Delegating work to others is a solution that frees up time for other activities, preferably of the proactive variety managers never seem to have enough time for. Delegating is a great way to develop talent on your team, enrich their jobs, and consequently increase employee satisfaction with their work. So if delegating is such a powerful solution, what stands in the way of managers doing more of it? Two reasons are usually given: time and talent. The time issue is the easier of the two to address. What gets planned for gets done. Delegation requires a commitment on the managers part and a confidence that by investing time in developing my employees today, I will gain time down the road through their ability to handle additional work. Confidence in team members is often the “deal breaker” when it comes to delegating. It is that lack of confidence that frequently causes managers to say “What’s the point, I’ll just have to be looking over his shoulder anyhow so I might as well handle it myself.” So… my advice to you Mr./Ms. Manager is to take a good long look in the mirror. Ask yourself, “What is causing me to lack confidence in this person?” and then coach to that issue. Make that individual someone you have confidence to delegate to. Managing is all about achieving results through others. Delagating needs to be one of your management tools.