Perhaps you are new to a leadership role or simply struggling with delegation work. As a leader, delegating tasks to others is necessary, but can be challenging. If you recently acquired your own team, what is the difference between a boss and a leader? What is the difference between a boss and a leader? Read More
The best way to describe how to delegate is with the five questions:who, what, when, where and why. To paint a clear picture, we'll start with why.
Delegation has many benefits, both for you as a leader and for your organization and your team. However, many people have trouble delegating tasks.
Some may think that it is easier to do tasks on their own than to delegate them. Others may feel worthwhile by tackling the tasks alone. Even more may simply be inexperienced in delegation.
The Harvard Business Review online states:
And furthermore, the time management study referenced by the Harvard Business Review concluded that:
As you can see, the benefits of delegation are more than just a leader. So if you've been holding back, you're also affecting your company and your team.
Now that you know the importance of delegation as a leader, the next step is to decide what to delegate.
In many cases, delegating certain tasks is a no-brainer. For example, you would not assign a programming task to a sales associate. However, when it comes to your own tasks, it can be more difficult to decide which delegation is justified.
Ask yourself these questions:
A North Carolina State University project indicates this in its list of types of tasks that should be delegated:
Once you've decided what to delegate, stick with that decision. Then organize your schedule and to-do list. 9 Best Time Management Tools to Stay Organized 9 Best Time Management Tools to Stay Organized The time management tools featured here will help you make the most of your days. Suitable for any business or personal situation. This is the time to organize your life! Read More
After determining which items need to be delegated, the logical move is to decide who should tackle the task. When you're the leader, whether it's a small permanent group or a flexible project team, get to know your team members Top 5 Project Management Tips for Beginners Top 5 Project Management Tips for Beginners if you're taking on the project manager role for the first time, here are just five project management tips to help you get started. Read more is key.
So when it comes time to delegate tasks, you obviously need to recognize each person's abilities. But at the same time, you need to know how well they perform and their history of responsibility. Assigning a task to someone you can trust is important to its successful completion.
Forbes offers these two helpful tips regarding delegation:
Remember, once you delegate a task, that team member must be held accountable for it. This doesn't mean you should walk away, but rather let your team member take the lead.
So, you know what you are delegating to and to whom, but when do you hand over those reigns? You will find many variables involved with when a task should be delegated. You should consider due date, priority, and effort as a minimum.
For example, tasks that are urgent. and Falling into a team member's skill set obviously needs to be delegated early on. But those that are low priority or could be handled by multiple people may be able to wait.
A helpful way to make this decision is to use a task prioritization method. One of these techniques, called the Eisenhower Matrix, can help you quickly set priorities. Using this method, you can put your tasks into four quadrants to do first, schedule, delegate, and don't.
As you review the Do First and Schedule groups, you can easily switch tasks to the Delegate section. This is also a useful method for determining those tasks that may fall into the Don't Quadrant.
The task has been delegated and now it's time for you to move on...almost. You still need to track and trace the task until it is complete.
You Probably Use Multiple Apps and Tools in Your Position Become a More Organized and Productive Leader With Wrike Become a More Organized and Productive Leader with Wrike Whether you're running a single project at work, or running a small business, either The role requires extreme organization and planning. This is not always possible with a traditional planner or planner. Enter Wrike, a... Read More If you have a reliable follow-up mechanism, be sure to incorporate the tasks you delegate. But if you need some suggestions, here are five great options.
Just be aware that the tool you are using should not provide the ability to assign tasks. You should use one that offers features like notifications, tracking methods, and reminders.
If you think you or your organization could benefit from a delegation training program, here are some resources to explore.
The ability to delegate to others is an important skill for any leader. 5 Time Management Tips That Can Make You A Leader In Life And Work 5 Time Management Tips That Can Make You A Leader In Life And Work Whether you realize it or not, you are a leader. Even if it means being a leader of your own life. These tips will help you be even better. Read more . And as you've read here, the benefits apply not only to you, but also to your organization and your team. This makes it a win-win-win situation.
Do you feel you have strong delegation skills? Or do you struggle with the task of delegation all together? Feel free to share your thoughts on this topic in the comments.
