Even though knowing how to delegate effectively comes with time and is not as seamless as it may seem, it can be learned. Just like with any other skill, the more you practice, the easier it will be.

In order to help you start delegating tasks effectively, I’ve created this article where you’ll be able to learn what delegation is, which tasks can be delegated and how to delegate tasks effectively. 

So, let’s dig in.

What Does Delegating Tasks Mean?

Delegating tasks just means transferring an assignment to another person in your team. In other words, it means assigning tasks to your team members.

Now, many people see delegation as passing tasks onto other people, but delegation is far from that. It is a technique that leads to growth, productivity and efficiency of everyone involved.

Why is Delegating Tasks Important?

In addition to decreasing your workload, which is the most obvious and commonly thought of advantage of delegation, there are several additional benefits of delegating tasks which are much more valuable.

Assigning tasks to your team members keeps them engaged at work. In addition to that, it is a good way for them to learn new skills or further develop some existing ones. Finally, when you assign tasks to team members, you’re indirectly telling them that you trust them to do the work, which can be empowering and motivating for some people.

According to a Gallup study, CEOs who excel in delegating generate 33 percent higher revenue. These executives know they can’t accomplish everything alone and position their team to tackle tasks they’re confident they’ll achieve—in turn empowering employees, boosting morale, and increasing productivity.

Lauren Landry

In addition to the benefits that your team members enjoy, delegating tasks can be very beneficial to managers as well. First of all, when you delegate tasks, you’re freeing up your time to focus on the tasks where you can offer the most value. What is more, it allows you to learn new skills and grow as well, thus helping your team move forward and deliver better results.

How to Decide Which Tasks to Delegate?

It goes without saying that not all tasks can or should be delegated. Nevertheless, a great number of them can be passed on to other people. There are several reasons managers tend to avoid delegating, some of them being fear of letting go, thinking they can do it better or just not wanting to seem lazy because they keep passing tasks to other people. But, isn’t assigning tasks what managers do anyway (at least one aspect of their job)?! 

According to the career and business strategist Jenny Blake, you should conduct an audit of your tasks using the six T’s to determine which tasks you can delegate. Here’s what the T’s stand for.

• Tiny: Small tasks that are easy to do but add up with time, such as registering for a conference, scheduling a meeting, etc.

• Tiny: Small tasks that are easy to do but add up with time, such as registering for a conference, scheduling a meeting, etc.
• Tedious: Tasks that are quite straightforward, need to be done manually, are repetitive, etc. can and should be delegated.
• Time-consuming: Tasks that, although they may be important and even somewhat complex, are time-consuming and do not require you to do the initial 80% of research. You can easily step in when the task is 80% complete and give approval, oversight and/or direction on next steps.
• Teachable: Tasks that can be taught – even though it may take more time for you to teach them, in the long run, you should be delegating those and providing enough resources for your team members to learn and execute them.
• Terrible at: No one knows it all. If there’s something you’re not good at, you should delegate those tasks to someone with skills to perform the task at hand.
• Time-sensitive: Tasks that are time-sensitive but compete with other priority tasks. Since you can’t duplicate yourself, you should delegate these tasks to others so that they can be done in parallel. You can always check the outcome and give feedback.

All the task types listed above can and should be delegated. So, take a moment to go through your tasks and do the audit. You’d be surprised at how much time you’ll have left to devote to other important tasks where you, and as a result of it, your team and/or project, will thrive. 

How to Delegate Tasks Effectively?

There are several steps you need to take in order to delegate tasks effectively. Please, keep in mind that this is not an extensive list of steps, but it offers a good starting point. 

Step 1 – Decide on the Tasks to Delegate

You can use Jenny’s six T’s process to decide on which tasks can be delegated. If you think that the audit is too much work for you, just take a look at your tasks and start with those you do on a regular basis but don’t really have to because they’re not a good use of your time or don’t provide any value for your growth and development.

Step 2 – Choose the Right Person for the Task

Think about your team members’ strengths and weaknesses and match tasks to their strengths. Nonetheless, there will be times when you’ll want to assign a task to a team member even though it’s not his or her strength at use if and only if the person will be able to learn and grow from the experience. So, be cautious when you do it, but don’t hesitate to try it because challenges help people grow.

Step 3 – Provide Clear Instructions and Deliverables

This one is quite straightforward, but make sure to provide as much detail as possible when you delegate tasks. Make sure to write down your expectations and deliverables so that the person knows when s/he has completed the task. 

A word of caution here: do not assume anything! You may think that some information goes without saying but there is no such thing when it comes to delegating tasks efficiently. So, write down anything and everything that comes to your mind and is related to the task.

Step 4 – Provide Learning Resources

If the task requires a team member to learn new skills, make sure to provide enough resources for the team member to be able to learn the task. If you’re the one who’s teaching the task, then make sure to set time aside for teaching and be available for questions.

Step 5 – Give and Ask for Constructive Feedback

Even though you’re not doing the task, you’ll probably have to approve the final version. So, allow yourself time to go over the task and provide constructive feedback. That doesn’t mean fixing everything you feel is wrong or not how you’d like it to be but it does mean explaining what’s good and what needs improvement and why.

On the other hand, seek feedback from your team members in order to improve your delegation skills. Ask them to provide details and reasoning in order for you to understand feedback correctly and act upon it when needed.

Step 6 – Give Credit Where Credit is Due

The more you thank and credit those you’ve delegated work to, the more likely it is they will want to help you on other projects in the future.

Lauren Landry

After you’ve delegated the task and it’s been completed, credit accordingly. Make sure that people know their help is appreciated and they’ve done a good job. Praise goes far and wide and can do wonders for productivity and motivation of your team.

Keep Learning and Growing

As I said at the beginning, the more you practice delegating tasks, the easier it will be. Learning how to delegate effectively will help you not only become a better manager, but also channel your growth in the right direction creating a thriving culture at work for everyone.

Feature image credits: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

The post How to Delegate Tasks Effectively & Why It Matters? appeared first on Snowation.

Having managed many projects across industries over the past 10 years, I’ve learned that even though projects are run differently in different industries, project management skills are transferable. Therefore, once you get a hang of who a project manager is and what a project manager does, you can use that knowledge to get a project manager job in almost any industry. I say “almost” because some industries require specific field knowledge that you may not be able to acquire so easily.

That being said, I decided to write this article and explain the role and responsibilities of a project manager based on my own experience and that of fellow project managers I know. No matter where you are in the PM journey, I hope you find this information useful.

Who is a Project Manager?

A project manager is a lead of the project team. According to the Project Management Institute (PMI):

Project managers are change agents […] They work well under pressure and are comfortable with change and complexity in dynamic environments.

As the quote explains, project managers are comfortable with change and are constantly changing themselves and adjusting to new circumstances, teams and projects. What is more, these individuals are well-organized and have good communication and people skills.

Please, keep in mind that you don’t need to have academic background in project management to be a project manager, but you do need to be curious, flexible and willing to learn and grow.

What Does a Project Manager Do?

Project managers are in charge of scoping, monitoring, and following up on a project, making sure that all runs as smooth as possible, on time and within the budget. In addition to that, a project manager is responsible for the project team; not only when it comes to tasks but also when it comes to the team’s professional and personal growth.

When it comes to being in charge of a project, there are several areas that project managers are responsible for. These areas are known as project phases and they include initiating, planning, executing, monitoring, and closing.

The first project phase is initiation. In this phase, a project manager needs to define the project and identify all stakeholders. Then starts the planning phase. Depending on the project, this phase can take some time because a project manager needs to take into account the following: project plan, project scope, time management, budget, people, communication, risks, expectation, to name just a few. It is very important to define all parts of the plan well because that really is a guide a project manager will follow throughout the rest of the phases. Note that plans can change, and that is absolutely OK. If a change happens, it is up to a project manager to adjust the project flow to the change and keep things going.

Once the plan is complete and ready to go, it’s time to execute. In this phase, a project manager sets up all the work, forms and manages a team, manages stakeholders’ expectations, etc. The execution phase usually overlaps with the monitoring phase because a project manager monitors all activities, time, budget, etc. while the project is being executed. At least, that’s how I always saw it.

Finally, the last stage is closing. This means finishing up with all stages, getting all the data, analyzing it and learning from it. Personally, I believe this to be the most important stage of a project. A project manager is expected to adapt and adjust the project to new situations along the way, but closing is the time when the project manager and the team get together, look at the project from a retrospect and pick up all the learnings so they’re equipped with new knowledge and experience for the next project.

At the first glance, the project phases may seem overwhelming, but the more experienced you get, the easier it becomes. However, in addition to the management experience you get, as a project manager, you need to continue developing and improving certain skills that may not be directly project-related.

Project Manager Skills

There are many skills you can develop as a project manager. I’ve decided to list just a few, but you can always find more on the Internet.

Honestly, the more interested you are in your personal and professional growth and the more you invest into those, the better you’ll be at managing projects. It’s all quite tightly connected. If you don’t know where to start, the skills I list below can be a good starting point.

1. Organization and Time Management Skills

As a project manager, you’re expected to plan and organize an entire project from all aspects and with all its little quirks. That requires good organization and time management skills. If you’re constantly running around trying to get things done, you’ll do the same with the project and when it comes to business, time is money. So, learning how to improve your productivity and be more effective will help you to manage projects and teams better and in a more efficient way.

2. Communication Skills

Being a good communicator is crucial for a project manager. You’ll be talking to a lot of people over the course of the project duration. Not only do they all differ as people, but also they have different roles and responsibilities you need to take into account when addressing them. There are many ways you can be a better communicator. You can even take a look at this article I wrote on how to improve your communication skills. It might give you ideas on what to search for next.

3. Leadership Skills

Managing a project includes managing the project team. As a project manager, you need to be able to inspire people, listen to them, and help them grow. In addition to that, you need to be able to build trust within your team so that they know they can come to you whenever and whatever happens. There is so much more to leadership than this, but it’s enough to get you thinking about it.

4. Technical Skills

Depending on the industry you’re in, being equipped with good technical knowledge of the project is crucial for its execution. Please, keep in mind that this is not a must in all industries and fields for you to be a good project manager. However, any project manager needs to have a good understand of what the project is about. Over time, you’ll learn all the other aspects as well.

5. Conflict Management and Problem Solving Skills

Last but certainly not least, a good project manager has exceptional problem solving skills. During your project, there will be hick-ups. Issues popping up in a project is an inevitability. In order for the project to continue running smoothly, a project manager needs to be able to approach problems objectively and help solving them.

On the other hand, working with people means there will occasionally be conflicts within the team other stakeholders. As a project manager, it is your responsibility to mediate and help resolve conflicts as they appear both efficiently and effectively.

So, there you have it. I hope this article gives you a bit more clarity on who a project manager is and what a project manager does. If you’re just starting out as a project manager, I also hope this also assured you that you’re on the right track and gave you some ideas on where to go next. If you’ve been managing projects for a while, I hope this article offers some new insights or is a good reminder of who you are as a professional. Whatever the case, I’d love to read your impressions so please feel free to comment on this article or email me about it.

If there’s something project management related that you’re very interested in and would love to read about, let me know. Maybe I can write about it

For the time being, I’m adding here several other articles you can check out that are related to this topic.

4 Qualities a Good Manager Should Have

3 Initial Steps in Project Planning

4 Rules to Make Your Feedback Count

Until the next article, keep learning and growing.

Sneza

Feature image credits: Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

The post Who is a Project Manager and What Does a Project Manager Do? appeared first on Snowation.

STEP 1: Know your goal

Everything we do has a purpose (or at least, it should have one) and this is especially true for projects. There are two ways this step can be approached.

1. You define the goal
2. Someone else defines the goal

If you’re the one who defines the project goal, there are a couple of things to have in mind. Firstly, how simple is your goal? Is it clearly defined? Have you explored alternatives? What problem does it solve? When defining your goal, make sure you can say it in just a couple of words. The more complex the definition, the harder it will be to strive for it.

Secondly, is your goal measurable? Is it real? Will you be able to achieve it in a timely manner? The length of time needed to achieve a goal will depend on the problem you’re trying to solve, but your goal should be timely. If the timeline is too long, make sure you create smaller goals that will lead to the main one. Some researchers suggest setting your goal a bit higher so that there’s 80% chance of achieving it. That way, you’re more motivated to strive for it.

Finally, there are several models you can follow when setting your goal. The most well-known one is SMART. I like this model, too and use it for personal and professional goal setting. Here are some other goal setting tools you can use.

On the other hand, If someone else defines the goal, your job is to go over it and make sure you understand it completely and there are no questions left unanswered. If you’re the one who is supposed to make a plan to reach that goal, you’d better know what you’re trying to reach.

STEP 2: KNOW YOUR TASKS

Once you’ve got your goal, you should start planning the tasks. Some management frameworks, like Scrum, call this a product backlog. Regardless of its name, in order to start your project, you need a list of tasks. The initial list is going to be pretty broad and general, which is just fine. It’s there to get you started. As you start making progress and learn more about the project, you’ll be adding more tasks to the list.

There are various management tools that you can use for your task management. Some of the popular ones are Trello, Asana, ClickUp, etc.

As you start writing down the tasks, some will be bigger (require more time and resources) while others will be smaller, faster to complete. The order of the tasks will depend on their importance, which leads to Step #3.

STEP 3: KNOW YOUR PRIORITIES

As you start listing your tasks, you will realize that some tasks are more important than others. Prioritizing tasks can be daunting, but more often than not, you’ll know what needs to be done first in order for other things to happen. In case you need some help, you can always use the Eisenhower Matrix of task prioritization by urgency and importance.

Keep in mind that priorities can change as new information about the project comes to light, but setting your priorities will take a lot of stress away and it will prevent you from getting stuck with completing a bunch of smaller, unimportant tasks when you need to focus on the more important ones.

It sounds quite simple, right? And it is, but do not take these steps lightly. It takes time and practice to get them right, which is why so many projects turn into a mess quite fast. So, before you get down to execution, give yourself some time to plan right. Following these three steps is one way to do it, but there are many other ways out there. The important thing is to have a system in place which will enable a project flow and give you some peace of mind.

What is your experience with project planning? What tips would you share?

Keep learning and growing.

Sneza

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The post 3 Initial Steps in Project Planning appeared first on Snowation.