Delegate only when you are sure that the person will not make a careless mistake or fail you. And when you do delegate, there are two key purposes for delegating, according to the management.about.com website. Delegation doesn’t equal dumping your tasks onto others. There is much more to take into consideration, and the delegation should serve these two crucial purposes.
1) You need to concentrate on serious issues
Why delegate? Delegate to free yourself up and save time. Delegating tasks is a way you can focus on truly important issues.
2) The receiver must learn and grow
What's in it for the other side, the one who is getting the task? The employee must learn something by doing it. And when you delegate, you have to give the person some of your own authority. You have to give to the employee all the authority they need in order to complete the task.
Delegate authority, but the responsibility is still yours
You can and must delegate the authority, but the responsibility lies with you. You cannot delegate responsibility. You are the one who decides whether the employee is skilled or experienced enough to tackle the task. It is possible that the person completes the task in a different way than you would, but that is to be expected and is perfectly fine. OK, it's fine as long as the task gets finished. Also, always bear in mind that when you are delegating, you should also think in terms of how it will help develop the subordinate who is taking over the task.
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