As a busy professional trying to juggle their day-to-day, it may be difficult to find the time to delegate to your team. However, delegation or outsourcing is an essential part of growing and ensuring that you get your work done in a timely and effective manner.
If you find yourself overwhelmed and overworked, take a look at these 8 top tips to start delegating.
1. Understand Why You Are Delegating
Simply directing a team member to do something for you is ineffective and can cause issues with the task down the line. It helps to provide context to what you’re asking of your team member and why.
2. Give As Much Detail As Possible
Don’t insult your team member’s intellect, but keep in mind that you should try and give as much detail as possible to whoever you are delegating to. This will help mitigate any back-and-forth later on.
3. Offer Yourself As A Resource
While you are providing as much information as possible to your team regarding the task at hand, be sure to offer yourself as a resource for any questions they may have. You don’t want them to be uncomfortable asking questions and end up spending too much time on the project or doing it incorrectly.
4. Be Strategic In Your Delegating
Lean on your team’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you are in need of data entry, don’t task this to someone that types five words a minute, lean on your most efficient team member to get the job done. The same can be said for someone who is more detail-oriented, ask them to perform some editing or quality assurance tasks.
5. Understand What You Can And Can’t Delegate
Keep in mind that there will be some tasks that are outside of your team’s scope. This can range from something being outside their skillset or confidential information that can’t be shared. Take a look at the tasks that you need to complete and focus on what only you can get done, then delegate the rest accordingly.
6. Take It Outside the Office
One of the biggest distractors that can cause a full plate at the workplace is stressing over the tasks that you need to do at home as well. Be sure to take your delegating skills outside of the office as well, like calling a professional to take care of home repairs instead of trying to do it yourself.
7. Say Thank You
Be sure to show your appreciation for your team when you delegate your tasks. This is both important as a manager as well as just being a decent human being. You may be the manager of your team but that doesn’t mean you should simply “demand” work to be done.
8. It Will Be There Tomorrow
There will always be periods of time where no matter how much work you delegate, there will still be a mountain of projects that you need to climb. In order to keep your sanity in check, don’t take your work home. One of the best pieces of advice out there for working professionals is, “It will be there tomorrow.” Delegation and outsourcing can work wonders for many workers and entrepreneurs when done correctly.
1. Understand Why You Are Delegating
Simply directing a team member to do something for you is ineffective and can cause issues with the task down the line. It helps to provide context to what you’re asking of your team member and why.
2. Give As Much Detail As Possible
Don’t insult your team member’s intellect, but keep in mind that you should try and give as much detail as possible to whoever you are delegating to. This will help mitigate any back-and-forth later on.
3. Offer Yourself As A Resource
While you are providing as much information as possible to your team regarding the task at hand, be sure to offer yourself as a resource for any questions they may have. You don’t want them to be uncomfortable asking questions and end up spending too much time on the project or doing it incorrectly.
4. Be Strategic In Your Delegating
Lean on your team’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you are in need of data entry, don’t task this to someone that types five words a minute, lean on your most efficient team member to get the job done. The same can be said for someone who is more detail-oriented, ask them to perform some editing or quality assurance tasks.
5. Understand What You Can And Can’t Delegate
Keep in mind that there will be some tasks that are outside of your team’s scope. This can range from something being outside their skillset or confidential information that can’t be shared. Take a look at the tasks that you need to complete and focus on what only you can get done, then delegate the rest accordingly.
6. Take It Outside the Office
One of the biggest distractors that can cause a full plate at the workplace is stressing over the tasks that you need to do at home as well. Be sure to take your delegating skills outside of the office as well, like calling a professional to take care of home repairs instead of trying to do it yourself.
7. Say Thank You
Be sure to show your appreciation for your team when you delegate your tasks. This is both important as a manager as well as just being a decent human being. You may be the manager of your team but that doesn’t mean you should simply “demand” work to be done.
8. It Will Be There Tomorrow
There will always be periods of time where no matter how much work you delegate, there will still be a mountain of projects that you need to climb. In order to keep your sanity in check, don’t take your work home. One of the best pieces of advice out there for working professionals is, “It will be there tomorrow.” Delegation and outsourcing can work wonders for many workers and entrepreneurs when done correctly.
Delegating Done Right
Delegation is an essential skill and practice that everyone must use at some point. Once you can delegate unnecessary tasks, you can finally focus on your core competencies.
