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How to Delegate Effectively
Outsourcing
Another form of delegating is outsourcing—hiring vendors
for a fee to do certain jobs instead of assigning them to staff 71
employees. Corporate downsizing has made outsourcing an increasing-
ly powerful management tool. Many self-employed professionals offer
their services, including such skills as clerical, computer programming,
graphic design, and technical or management consulting. Often, firms
will hire consultants to head a specific project or to create a new
product.
Temporary and part-time workers are easy to locate through agen-
cies that specialize in their services. If a time-consuming task will take
valuable time to complete and will be worth less to your company
than warranted by your salary, perhaps it’s time to consider outsourc-
ing the project.

contract. You find dealing with this individual very trying
and time-consuming, because you find him overbearing
and unfocused. However, one of your colleagues finds the
client delightful.
Why not delegate the meeting to your colleague? You can
always return the favor another time, perhaps when
you’re less pressed for time.
This section has identified two directions of delegation:
downward and lateral. But there’s a third, unexpected direction,
as well: upward (see Figure 6-1 on the next page).
Sometimes someone above you assigns you a responsibility
that shouldn’t be yours. Other times, someone delegates to you
so incompletely that you can’t possibly perform the task com-
petently.
Should you try to delegate the job back? Yes, if you do it
very diplomatically. Here’s the trick. Go to the person involved
to seek “guidance.” Express your enthusiasm about the project,
but say that you feel you don’t yet fully grasp the intent, proce-
dures, or goals. Clarification might eliminate your need to dele-
gate upward. Or your feedback may make the other person
realize that he or she shouldn’t have delegated this task, that he
or she is the appropriate person to do it. You might even sug-