Whether you’re a team leader, an entrepreneur, or in some similar position of authority, delegation is going to be a major key to maximizing your productivity and keeping yourself sane during tight deadlines or large workloads.
Delegating is not always easy, and the process is not always clear-cut, but the sooner you start, the sooner you will develop the expertise to do it effectively. Here you will find seven delegation strategies to increases your organization’s efficiency:
- Learn to let go: the biggest problem most new bosses and leaders face is the inability to let go of their own work. Start small, delegating only the smallest tasks, and gradually work your way up. Get to know your team better and improve the trust among you and your co-workers.
- Establish a firm priority system: start developing a priority system for tasks, creating at least four categories, according to the degree of effort a task requires and the degree of skill. The highest-skilled category should contain tasks that you keep on your own plate, while those in the lower-skilled categories can be assigned to others. Establishing a firm priority system will help you understand the nature of your tasks and delegate efficiently.
- Play to your workers’ strengths: as a leader, you will have to learn the subtleties of your teammates. When delegating, take a look at your team and assign tasks to whoever has the greatest number of relevant skills for that task. It seems like an obvious choice, but too many leaders delegate to whoever has the lightest workload or is the most convenient.
- Always include instructions: even if the task process seems obvious to you, make sure to include instructions with each task you delegate. If you have specific preferences for how the assignment will be carried out, include that information. If you have a strict deadline or milestones, you need to be clear about them. Including details and straightforward instructions from the get-go will avoid most communication gaps and will allow your tasks to be executed effectively.
- Don’t be afraid to teach new skills: though the assignment of your first few tasks will take more time than it will save you (since you will need to train your chosen employee), consider it as an investment. By transferring those skills, you will be opening the door to assigning all similar tasks to that individual in the future, ultimately saving more time than you spent teaching.
- Trust, but verify: once a task is delegated, trust your teammate to execute it on his or her own terms. This will allow the person to tackle the work the way he or she feels is best. However, do not be afraid to occasionally step in and verify that the task is moving along as planned.
- Use feedback loops to improve delegation moving forward: feedback is the most important part of the delegation process, and it works both ways. If your workers have done well with a task you assigned, let them know by publicly thanking them and offering genuine praise. If they have fallen short, do not be afraid to give them some constructive criticism. On the other hand, invite your workers to share their thoughts on how you are delegating.
