I’m a person who stresses out a lot.
More often than not, instead of efficiently (and calmly) completing my tasks on a busy day, I’d spend half the time stressing over it. This simply made me uncomfortable.
Being the only content manager in the marketing team, I had a lot on my plate. My tasks consisted not only of writing content for all campaigns but also of managing outreach, reviewing content, researching and sometimes even a bit of designing.
Completing all of them in a timely manner without affecting the dependent tasks had become my biggest challenge.
This is where I turned to delegating my work with others in the team. By following the steps here, I was able to boost my productivity in reaching my weekly objectives effectively.
Break Down the Task to Smaller Ones
This helps me determine which work I should delegate to my team.
It also helps me figure out which parts of the task I should be spending time on doing and which is weighing me down.
While you should not delegate any task that you don’t want to do by yourself to others, make sure that time-sensitive ones are completed first by you or by your team.
Any task that is part of your job duties should be completed by you, while you can get those on your team to complete tasks in areas they specialize in.
Identify the Right Fit for the Right Job
This is essential to make sure that you get the job done quickly. When delegating your tasks it’s important to consider the strengths and weaknesses of each and every one of them. And take into consideration their workload.
To get this information I use a pretty neat trick. I maintain a live org chart which contains not only the job title but also the skills of each team member and the current project they are working on. I have shared this org chart software with the rest of the team, so they are able to update the details on the project they are currently working on, so I would know which one is available to take on tasks I would assign them.
Plus a quick look at the org chart reveals who the right fit is for the job, given that all their skills are listed down.
Be Specific about What You Want
To avoid wasting time and resources you need to specify what you expect (from due dates to deliverables). By clearly communicating all these details upfront will help you avoid having to redo the work.
When communicating your expectations, it’s also important to support them by giving them guidelines and directions as to how to go about the work assigned to them. It’s the only way to ensure that the end result is exactly what you are looking for.
Check in from Time to Time
But don’t smother them with your presence or try to micromanage everything they do. If you assigned them a task to do, you need to allow them to have a sense of ownership as well.
Answer any questions they may have and guide them when they seem to be stuck. You can hold daily or weekly project review meetings to review the work that has been completed and make sure that everyone is on the right path.
I usually drop them a message via Slack and ask how it is going, and if they need any help, I’d quickly lend them a hand. After all the completion of the main task on my hands depends on the completion of the smaller sub-tasks my team is working on.
Plus it is important to be patient and understanding. Your teammates may make mistakes, but instead of criticizing them, try to find solutions together.
Don’t Take All the Credit Yourself
It’s your project, but your colleagues helped you complete it. Technically, without their help, success wouldn’t have been possible.
Give other credit when it’s due, and don’t hesitate to thank everyone who assisted you. It’s the best way to guarantee their support when you want it again.
Delegating work is the easiest way to quickly and effortlessly complete any task. And it is also a great way to learn from others. Delegating is sharing responsibilities with others, and it is a great way to reinforce the fact that everyone is working towards one goal and to strengthen the unity among team members.
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