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Every project manager must be proficient in delegating tasks. You need more people to do the work if you want to do more. It is not difficult to see that the project manager cannot do all the tasks.
There are just not enough hours in a day (and you probably don’t have the skills necessary to do everything).
I didn’t learn how to delegate tasks. I learned this by doing. Not all of my delegation experiences were successful.
I once forgot to tell my colleague when I needed work done and was then annoyed that she wasn’t done fast enough. I made that mistake again.
This article contains all the information you need to delegate tasks. This article will explain why delegation is important for your job and how it impacts your team.
I’ll show you the Skill and Will model, which you can use to determine how much support your team member needs after you have delegated the work.
Next, I’ll show you how to delegate so it’s a pleasant experience.
What is delegation?
Three Reasons You Should Not Delegate
First steps to delegate tasks
Make a good team and work with them.
You can see it from their perspective
Understanding Skill and Will
How to delegateExplain the work
Make sure they understand
Monitor and Follow up
The Key Takeaways
Let’s start by understanding what delegation is.
What is delegation?
Delegation is when someone is given the responsibility or authority to do a task. This is usually done by a manager or another senior member of the organization to a team member.
This is the definition of delegation that I use most often.
That’s it. It’s simply giving someone else work. Why aren’t they doing it?
Three Reasons You Should Not Delegate
There are three reasons you shouldn’t delegate as much.
It feels too much like hard labor: It is difficult to set the parameters, give instructions, answer questions, and then follow up. It’s much easier to do it yourself.
Others will think you are a lazy person. Shouldn’t this be your job?
You are the best at what you do: Because of your superior knowledge and brainpower, no one else can do it as well.
You might be able to do the work well and have been rewarded for it in the past. You are familiar with the tasks and are able to complete them quickly and efficiently. You are worried that others might not deliver the same quality results as you.
You must learn to let go of yourself.
It is your job to do the hard work and to help others improve their skills. It is your job to manage the project so that the business gets the desired outcome.
It’s your job, to focus your time on the areas that can add the most value. This means letting go of everything you did before managing projects.
You don’t have to give up on the tasks. You can still get more done and emerge stronger from it.
How? Let’s discuss that now.
First steps to delegate tasks
Grace Killelea devotes a chapter in her book, The Confidence Effect* to the art and science of delegating work.
Killelea writes, “As we assume greater and greater responsibilities in our ascension through leadership ranks, naturally we can’t continue doing the same things we did two or three years ago.”
She continues to say that you didn’t get promoted to do the same job you did before. They promoted you up the hierarchy because they require you to do what’s required at this new level. This is often more strategic than your previous job.
She writes that “Quite frankly,” they expect you to delegate the tasks you don’t need.
Your first step to effectively delegating is to believe it is your job.
