Learning How to Delegate Tasks
I raise my hand plead guilty to not being able to delegate tasks very efficiently, but it is something that I have worked on and gotten much better at doing for several very good reasons. Learning how to delegate tasks will increase your efficiency in the workplace, at home and just about everywhere and every time throughout your life.
The majority of you that have a hard time with this, are probably experiencing the very same problem I had. Something in my head told me that I could do the given task better, faster and with less worries than if I were to delegate that to someone else, even if it meant that I had to work myself to the bone to get everything finished. However, that’s the problem. When you begin taking on to many tasks in the course of a day, you begin to rapidly lose the valuable time needed to accomplish your days work, which coincidently makes you less efficient than you would have been had you just let someone else do the job in the first place.
So in an attempt to combat the evil that resides in all of us, I decided to share some of the tips that I used when learning how to delegate tasks.
Tips for Learning How to Delegate Tasks:
Get over yourself: Yes, you are probably very good at everything you do or have been trained to do, but that doesn’t mean that no one else is just as good at the same thing. Even if another person does a given task in a different manner, doesn’t mean that they are doing it wrong or don’t know what they are doing. Everyone does stuff differently and what works well for one person may not work so well for you. So try not to be quite so impressed with your own abilities and allow others to show you theirs.
Organize yourself and your schedule: Before you can even consider which tasks to delegate, you have to know which ones will free up the most time for you. Simply choosing the easiest tasks, sometimes known as “busy work”, and passing those off to someone else is not properly delegating. The tasks should be chosen very strategically so that you can get the most out of your day, while completing the most important jobs yourself.
Choose your helpers wisely: This where a lot of people go wrong, though it sounds like common sense. When delegating any task be sure that the person you are delegating it to knows what they are doing. Handing out jobs carelessly to anyone you see will only get you in trouble, because chances are they might just make matters worse. So choose wisely and be sure that you have given the job to the most capable candidate.
Explain the task thoroughly: I don’t think it can get any clearer that that. Anytime you are delegating tasks be absolutely sure that the person in question completely understands what it is that (s)he should be doing. This will avoid any confusion and problems that arise from lack of communication.
Be sure to follow up: Anytime you have gone through the process of delegating tasks to family members, co-workers or whom ever else it may be, make sure to follow up at the days end. Ask questions, how did it go, were there any problems with the given task, did you complete the task and so on. If there was a problem, this is a perfect opportunity to discover why the problem arose, was it on their end, your end or out of everyones control? You should also take this opportunity to offer a little praise if all went well, everyone loves to hear thanks or great job once in a while.
So what do you think? Can you delegate tasks or are you a do it yourselfer? Share your tips for learning how to delegate tasks in the comment section below.
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