Task Delegation

If you are a project manager or leader, it can become overwhelming with the amount you may have to undertake. From planning task and projects, delegating, managing and making regular check-ins with members of your team – there’s a lot to consider. But taking on too much could lead to burnout, which is not where you want to be!

When done in the right way, embracing task delegation can help improve productivity and greatly streamline your workflow and processes with you and your team. But there are many more benefits to delegating tasks within your team:

Time

If you are delegating tasks to team members, the first benefit you’ll see is that you’ll have more free time! This will allow you to spend time on other tasks that may need more attention and focus. As a leader, this is important as you will more than likely have strategic or development tasks that require your attention. This will also provide you with more time to support and mentor your team.

Trust

Having a culture of trust amongst your team is essential and being able to confidently task delegate to your team will keep them motivated. Delegating a task to a team member also hands over responsibility, allowing you to recognise your team’s capabilities, gather new business knowledge and aid their overall progression.

Skills

Delegating tasks is a great way for your team members to showcase skills they might not have been able to show before. This will highlight some elements of your team that you previously wouldn’t have noticed before and allow you to upskill your internal team. This will also support some of the benefits above, motivating and empowering your team.

Involvement

Allowing your team members to take on some of your tasks will get them involved in projects, opening a wealth of new opinions and thoughts. Your team members will feel heard and involved in the company as a whole, reinforcing the trust you have created.

 

So, we’ve gone through some benefits, but how can you delegate tasks effectively so that you don’t face any issues along the way? We have some techniques that can help you to do this successfully

 

1. Identifying the tasks

The first step to delegating your tasks is to first determine which tasks you are going to be handing over. Look at your tasks for the week and identify which can be completed by someone other than yourself. This could range from small tasks that might take up a lot of your tasks, to more complex tasks that could be taught to someone else who can manage these going forward.

 

2. Who is taking on the task?

The next stage is deciding who can take the task on. You should take into consideration the skills and strengths of your team members, along with their schedules to ensure you don’t miss any deadlines.

On this point, it’s worth thinking to not assign tasks that may be considered ‘too easy’ for a team member. You should strive to challenge your team so they can fully utilise and grow their skills – and show you where their aspirations lie!

 

3. Training and Feedback

Once you’ve chosen the right team member, you want to ensure that you are also preparing them to complete the task successfully. Whether they need any further training should be considered within your planning and with this, you need to ensure that this is given ahead of task completion.

Finally, once the task is complete, it’s your responsibility to give the relevant feedback and future direction to your team member. It’s important to give gratitude and allow your team member to give you any feedback in how you could help them further in the future.

Overall, task delegation is essential if you are feeling overwhelmed or burnt out as a team leader. Take the time to work through what you need to delegate, and you’ll find your workflow and efficiency improve.

 

Get in touch

If you’re struggling to find the time for certain tasks, we can help. From project management to admin, we can give you the support you need. Get in contact with us for any advice or assistance you may need.