Continuing with the theme of word-based prompts, I was going to write about delegate, but then I thought I’d give this one to someone else to write… just kidding! But do you see what I did there?

To delegate is to pass on a task or job to another person. It is often said that management of an office or shop involves the art of delegation, and whilst I am loathe to delegate stuff to others, I can understand why it’s a necessary evil from time to time. Too much delegation creates the impression of a lazy boss, whilst too little can suggest a lack of trust and/or confidence in one’s employees, not to mention increasing the risk of a burnout. To be a good leader, delegating tasks is important. No one has all the attributes required to complete every task of any given office or store, but a good leader will know which of their employees can be trusted to tackle any given element, and they will also be able to monitor how everyone is doing.

Delegation doesn’t merely apply to work. Commanding officers in militaries have to delegate. Different forces under their command will have different skillsets. There’s no point in assigning SAS operatives to front-line combat; that would be a waste of their abilities. You wouldn’t send RAF pilots on a ground assault; you’d obviously stick them in planes to make the best use of their skills!

Computer programming can also a form of delegation. Good programmers know how to write programs that perform remedial tasks in the background, sparing the programmer the direct need to perform the task themselves. It’s definitely a good skill to have, just be sure not to take it too far!