Ed. note: this article was inspired by a comment from an ECC reader: "I was wondering what you determine can be delegated? I guess I'm afraid that if I delegate tasks....or ask volunteers to help....that I will cause people (both those who hired me and others) to think "that's why we pay her---why are others doing her job???" So how do I get around this?" Gayle's extremely practical answer follows.
WHAT TO DELEGATE AND WHY
Freeing your time for tasks only you can do is a primary reason to delegate. But, it is not the sole valid reason to share responsibilities. Your purpose may be to involve members in the work of the church, create appreciation for the administrative functions of ministry, provide opportunities for teamwork, increase general productivity, or to develop useful skills in paid and volunteer recruits.
Toward that end, consider delegating:
• Jobs someone might do better than you.
Perhaps creating flyers is not what you do well, but you know a person who absolutely thrives on layouts, fonts, and graphics. Ask.
• Parts of bigger projects.
Producing a church directory is one example of an assignment you may not want to turn over in its entirety, but smaller slices of it might be assigned to a few well-chosen assistants.
• Tasks you just don’t like doing.
Yes, that is an acceptable reason to delegate. You do best that which you enjoy—and, someone else could gain satisfaction from doing well that which you would just as soon not do at all.
• Assignments that will challenge others.
It can be to your advantage to turn loose of even some tasks you enjoy and handle well. Giving others opportunities to increase their abilities motivates and encourages.
• Tasks that increase the team’s strengths.
The old joke about the secretary having job security because she is the only one who knows where things filed is actually no joke at all. The office team is stronger when more than one person can do each vital job. Train someone to do the things that must be done. One never knows when an emergency will arise or when you will simply find yourself with too many priorities.
• Projects that allow you to move on to another level of responsibility.
This kind of delegation gives others the opportunity to take on skills you have already mastered so you can gain experience in even more advanced pursuits
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There is never enough time to get all the work done that needs to be done in church communications. One way to solve this problem is to have volunteers do some of the work. However, many church office administrators and church leaders aren't comfortable doing this because they are concerned about the level of quality that volunteers product. Or they worry that they won't really be able to control what volunteers do.
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