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Reviewed by Jessica Roper, MBA, Director of Career Services
This article was updated on December 6, 2023.
Delegation offers more advantages than just getting tasks off your plate. Done right, it can transform your team into a well-oiled, super-productive machine that achieves more. It can also empower team members by offering opportunities to develop skills and improve their time management.
In fact, no matter your leadership style, delegating tasks is a way for your team to step up, hone their skills and gain confidence.
It’s not always second nature, however, to delegate work. Here, we take a closer look at why delegating is a good idea, and provide five tips for learning how to delegate tasks in the workplace.
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Proper delegation makes everyone’s life easier. Here are some of the benefits:
Delegation can improve efficiency when:
Delegation isn’t just about lightening your load — it also helps foster problem-solving. Here’s how:
Let’s unpack how delegation fuels motivation and ownership:
Delegation is also a catalyst for creativity and innovation. Here’s how:
As for product innovation, delegation allows you to tap into a collective pool of talent and ideas — the perfect combination for creating something remarkable.
Sure, delegating sounds great, but how do you do it? Here are five steps to becoming an efficient delegator.
Start with getting to know your team. Understand their skills, aptitudes and interests. Do they have a knack for detail? A creative flair? An uncanny ability to connect dots that others don’t see? Use this knowledge to assign tasks that are appropriate to their skill levels, foster their growth and keep them engaged.
Balance is key — overloading team members because they excel in a particular area could lead to burnout. Delegate only if they have the ability to take on new tasks.
Leadership courses can help you learn techniques to assess your team’s abilities, enhance your decision-making skills and improve your communication style, making assigning the right people to the right tasks much easier.
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When you delegate a task, clarify what you expect, by when and why it’s essential.
Clear expectations are vital to keep the process or project on track. Set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals to provide a pathway to success. Also, ensure your team understands what needs to be done as well as the broader context — how will their tasks contribute to the company’s overall goals? This will ideally help align the end result with the overall vision.
If communication isn’t your natural forte, online communication courses can come in handy. Such courses can provide practical tips, including how to articulate your expectations, give feedback and navigate difficult conversations. They can also teach techniques for becoming more persuasive and tailoring your communication style to different individuals and situations.
Other key tips for communication:
Open lines of communication invite questions and suggestions, allowing room for innovation.
Again, SMART goals come into play here — consider the timeline for each task and the resources available. Also, consider external demands, holidays and other projects that must be juggled. Break down large tasks into manageable chunks, each with its own mini-deadline. Team members can experience the thrill of accomplishment as they tick off each part.
Likewise, a deadline that seems reasonable to you might not be feasible for them. You can’t always know what other deadlines they’re juggling. Involve them in setting goals and deadlines. This will give you a more realistic picture of everyone’s role and responsibility while increasing your team’s ownership and commitment to the tasks.
Numerous tools are available to help you keep track of who’s doing what and when it needs to be done. For instance, project management software and task tracking systems provide a comprehensive overview, changes in status, deadlines and team members’ progress. Such tools help keep everyone connected and eliminate the need for manual tracking or follow-ups.
Communication tools help you maintain clear and continuous interactions. Additionally, cloud storage platforms make sharing resources a breeze. Calendar apps are perfect for scheduling meetings, setting reminders and keeping everyone aligned on deadlines.
Following up isn’t about micromanaging — it’s about providing support, catching potential issues early and maintaining communication. Here’s how you can master it:
An effective follow-up process provides the guidance and support necessary for your team to deliver their best work.
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It’s crucial to know whether your delegation strategy is working. Here are some tips to help you track and measure success:
Successful delegation begins with a well-prepared and informed team leader. In addition to learning from experience, such professionals can pick up tools and techniques to improve their leadership skills when they complete a bachelor’s degree in business or a master’s degree in business administration. These programs focus on the importance of accountability, problem-solving and communication.
In addition to education, University of Phoenix offers a range of career resources to support individuals during their professional journey. These include:
Michael Feder is a content marketing specialist at University of Phoenix, where he researches and writes on a variety of topics, ranging from healthcare to IT. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University Writing Seminars program and a New Jersey native!
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June 30, 2023 • 7 minutes