You have been promoted. You move into your new office, the one that says Manager on the door. Your hard work and application have been recognised and you now have the chance to show your managerial skills to the world You are keen to impress in your new role and you ponder over how to get off to the best possible start. You have experience in so many areas that you don't know where to begin in showing those who have put their faith in you that they have made the correct decision. Surprisingly, it may be more beneficial not to do any of your former tasks to make an impression, and passing work on to colleagues could be a more favourable option

Your employers are already aware that you know the job inside-out; that is one of the reasons they promoted you. So you need not continue trying to impress them in that way, but you should now try to show that you can handle the step up and the added responsibility that comes with it. And delegating authority is one way to demonstrate a full understanding of the organisation and how it works.

There is a misconception that delegating is a way of making things easier for you by giving tasks to others. This is way off the mark as delegating authority actually frees up more time for you to go about your job as manager.

The first thing to bear in mind is that you are working as a team with a common goal. Delegating specific tasks to those you know are well able to deal with them will boost the efficiency of the operation far more than if you tried to do everything yourself in order to make an immediate impact. Trying to impress in this way would only frustrate those above into asking 'why doesn't he (or she) delegate?' and, far from impressing, it would be noted as a failing, despite all of the effort you put in. So never look at delegating tasks as a bit of a cop out on your part; it is actually demonstrating excellent managerial skills.

In fact, the ability to delegate well is crucial to the role of manager, and it is a skill that will not go unnoticed as you strive to climb the career ladder. Good delegating skills allow operations to run smoothly, saving the organisation time, money and hassle. A failure to delegate effectively can lead to a backlog of work that becomes overwhelming.

Another positive aspect of delegating authority is that it instils a greater sense of involvement in the operation for those you deem capable of handling the extra responsibility. People tend to respond well to such responsibility as it gives them an increased sense of worth within the organisation, and this is reflected in their performance.

And of course delegating authority will improve the skills of other team members so that when the time comes for you to step up to the next rung of the career ladder, there are capable hands ready to take over from you. Had you not given your colleagues the chance to develop their skills by delegating authority to them, their lack of experience could be a hindrance to your own advancement.

So the importance of delegating to succeed cannot be overlooked in the wide subject of managerial skills. Training in this area of management could prove to be one of the most valuable strings to your bow.