What does it mean to delegate tasks?
Being a project manager often means being swamped with work. And when you’re rushed off your feet, it’s good to learn to delegate your tasks. So what does it mean to delegate and why is it important in your work? Let’s take a closer look at it.
How To Delegate Tasks As a Project Manager?
According to Elizabeth Harrin, from girlsguidetopm.com:
Delegation is where responsibility or authority for a task is assigned to someone, normally from a manager or someone more senior in the organization to a team member.
It’s a piece of cake! If you have too much work, you simply delegate it to other people in your team. And the reason why you should learn to do it is simply to be able to stay on top of your business.
How To Know You’re Not Delegating Tasks To Others?
Even when you share your ideas with your team, it doesn’t reduce the amount of your work. You can still be buried under tons of papers and projects. And if you want your work to be effective, you need to delegate some of it to other people. So even though you appoint your employees with tasks, it doesn’t always mean you actually delegate your work. And here’s how to know it’s not happening:
- You have too much work. No matter what do you and how many people you ask for help, you’re always too busy working. The week comes to an end and your projects are still not finished? That’s the first sign that you should start delegating them to other people. Asking team members for help or advice doesn’t mean the same as giving them actual tasks.
- You get lost in your tasks. If you’re up to your eyes in work, that means you’re doing too much. Learn how to delegate them to co-workers. Start with something small that doesn’t need your attention. Something your team is better at. Not delegating tasks can lead to too much stress and lack of productivity, which makes your work much worse.
- You feel like it’s not for you. If you have a feeling that what you’re doing is not right, stop doing it! Delegate your tasks to someone who’s better at it than you. It will pay off with great results!
- You’re not effective in your work. Your productivity becomes lower? This is because you’re not delegating your work. Too many tasks can be a burden. Let someone else do the job and relax, it’ll be done eventually.
- You’re not confident about your team’s abilities. Doubting your co-workers’ skills will not help you. If you don’t trust them with their work, you’ll be overwhelmed with work forever!
If you can relate to some of these points, that’s a sign you don’t delegate your tasks. But don’t worry! We’re here to help you.
How To Delegate Tasks?
Delegating tasks to other people is easier than you think. And here’s how to do it:
- Provide instructions and information. People won’t be able to handle the task if they don’t have the outline on how to do it. Make sure your message is clear and understandable.
- Be in control. Set deadlines and milestones. Always keep your hand on the pulse. Otherwise, the tasks will never be completed.
- Take care of the person you delegated the task to. Ask if (s)he is able to carry it out and if they have any problems.
- Support and suggest. Don’t be too harsh on your co-worker. (S)he may have a different vision on the topic than you. Be encouraging and give some clues concerning the project.
- Motivate. There’s nothing better in work than a good motivation! Motivated employees are more productive and keen on doing their work.
- Be specific. Ask the person if (s)he understands the instructions. Tell about your expectations. Communicate and make sure there are no understatements.
- Have a place and time for reporting progress. Make one day a week the day when you talk to each other and discuss the task in details.
Delegating Tasks With TimeCamp
Delegating tasks as a project manager can not only save your life but also improve your company’s performance. But to keep the tasks and projects under control you need to create a budget. You can then draw it up for a person’s work. And that’s where TimeCamp comes in handy! With the feature of budgeting, you can easily delegate your tasks to someone else. And you can consider the budget as the working hours. It doesn’t only help to save your time but also to divide the task basing on the financial plan.
Additionally, you can always take a look at the reports on project budgeting. You can see how much budget you have already spent and how much you still have left.
Check out this and other features of our software! Start delegating your tasks today and…