As a leader and employer, an important role you will play includes delegating tasks to ensure all projects are completed on time and meet the highest quality standards. By delegating tasks, you will have more time to accomplish some of the bigger goals of your company. To better understand why delegation is vital, we will delve into the benefits of this aspect of managing a team.
The Importance of Delegating Tasks
The biggest benefits of delegation involves boosting productivity across your team and utilizing the particular skills sets of each of your employees, cites an article from LifeHack. In addition, your team members will grow and learn on the job when you delegate tasks among them and ensure they’re pulling their weight.
The benefit of doing so will create a more flexible team with a wide skill set that will be able to finish various parts of complex projects. Additionally, when you delegate, your employees will gain greater confidence in their own abilities. Workers are also likely to trust their managers more when leaders are continually delegating tasks.
Showing that you trust your employees to take on some more difficult tasks will give them more self-esteem and will make you more respected among your staff. Delegation involves seeking the best among your workforce including their biggest strengths and, thereby, optimizing productivity and efficiency at your company. This will help your business gain more profit in the long run.
So how do you know when to delegate your tasks and when to avoid the delegation process? Below we outline key steps to address this.
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When to Delegate Parts of a Project
As a manager, it is vital to know when to delegate and when to keep certain tasks for yourself. You’ll essentially need to understand how much control you will want to have over a particular project. For example, you’ll want to decide whether a first draft of a marketing campaign should be reviewed and edited by you or whether another employee can take on this step.
When you are attempting to delegate tasks, you will want to decide whether your employees can successfully complete that part of a project or whether you should be in charge of a task. Ask yourself whether a task requires your attention in order to be completed to a high quality standard. Also, be sure to find out whether a particular task will help your employees develop their skill set.
If something complex clearly needs to be delegated, determine whether you have the time to teach someone else to perform the job and find time in your day to teach and educate your workers on new tasks. In addition, try to determine whether similar tasks will be required at your company in the future. If so, you may benefit from teaching and delegating those parts of a job.
According to an Inc.com post written by Jayson DeMers, Founder and CEO of AudienceBloom, one of the major issues that managers and bosses face is the inability to let go of their work and the desire to have full control over a project. Some leaders want to complete every part of their projects and they do not seek out help from anyone else.
Other times, bosses may believe their skill set is more suitable for the majority of the work that needs to be done. This causes significant problems because managers rarely have enough time in the day to complete everything by themselves by the deadline. Additionally, their work often suffers because they rush through in order to meet those tight deadlines.
As such, it is vital to let go and begin delegating tasks. Managers should start with delegating small tasks and continue their way up to assigning bigger tasks over time. The best way to determine when to delegate a task is to get to know your team members and gain greater trust among your team. You can start small, but you will need to let go of some daily tasks in order for your business to be truly successful.
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Why You Should Avoid Centralized Management
In our effort to delegate, it is vital to understand the differences between centralized management and decentralized management. In a centralized management structure, only a small number of individuals make the majority of the decisions within a company, according to the Houston Chronicle. This is usually a form of management in small businesses, but can be used in larger and more competitive companies.
Decentralized management is the complete opposite in which the decision making processes are handled by both mid-level managers, upper-level managers, and the employees at the bottom of the rung. While greater authority is still held at the top, the majority of decisions are actually made by the lower level managers.
There are clear benefits to a decentralized system of management since it allows employees to provide better customer service due to their role in decision-making. Both employees and lower level managers tend to have more satisfaction from their job when they’re given more responsibility through task and decision-making delegation.
These managers have more control over their daily tasks and have the ability to reward employees who go above and beyond their responsibilities. The ability to have greater flexibility when it comes to decision-making provides more job satisfaction as well as allows workers to see their importance to a company.
There are also clear disadvantages to a more centralized management structure such as limiting creativity to the top levels of directors and adding more bureaucracy or red tape. This leads to less flexibility in terms of a business adapting to changing market conditions and generally slower business operations. Additionally, this makes it difficult for companies to adapt to the changing needs of their customer base.
For instance, if the workers at a clothing store find similar complaints from their customers, in a centralized management structure, they would need to provide that information in monthly reports to the upper management. This would lead to significant delays in making any changes within the store in order to meet customer demands.
In your effort to avoid centralized management, it is vital to begin delegating tasks and decision-making. Below are a number of key steps for delegating at your organization.
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Six Tips for Improving Your Delegation Process
The news source Fast Company reported six tips that a manager should learn in order to enhance their delegating process. The first step is to prepare and take time to map out exactly what you’re asking your workers to accomplish when delegating tasks. When the expectations are clear and thoughtful, your employees are more likely to provide a high quality outcome.
The next step is to assign the project or task to the right person for the job. Make sure that employees are aware of the timing related to each part of a project, the context of their task, and the budget for each part. Make sure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to communication and updates.
You will also need to confirm whether your employees understand what is expected of them. One of the best ways to do so is to ask them to paraphrase the assignment in their own words or ask questions to see if the worker understands the required task.
The fourth step is to determine commitment from the employees including whether they are committed to achieving the expected results. Make sure your employees are comfortable with the deadlines, the budget, and the tools they’ll need to utilize. In addition, if a project is of great importance, a manager may need to let an employee know the consequences of failing to deliver the required outcome.
The fifth tip for delegating tasks is to avoid ‘reverse delegating.’ This means taking back a task that had previously been assigned to a worker, which is rarely necessary. Instead of taking back a task that had been assigned, if a worker faces a problem, teach them the way to overcome the challenge and complete the task.
The last tip for improving your delegation process is to ensure accountability. Accountability involves making sure that your employees are communicating with you about every part of their project and the timing of their delivery to ensure there are no surprises when the deadline rolls around. By implementing these six steps, you’ll become much more successful at delegating work and generating greater success.
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Why You Should Use Time Management Software when Delegating Tasks
You will find that time management software is a key tool in terms of delegating work and communicating with your team on various projects. The Runrun.it software product provides time tracking capabilities that will allow you to ensure accountability and determine commitment among your staff. This tool allows you to communicate with your workers remotely on whether they can meet a deadline or whether the schedule for delivery should change.
In addition to the automatic time tracking tools that show how much time is spent on a project, users can access a personalized dashboard showing their metrics, such as how many revisions a document underwent. To learn whether the Runrun.it time management software program is right for your business, click here for a free trial.
