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Are you wasting your time on tasks other people can do more cheaply?

Are you sacrificing your family, friendships, and freedom to keep your business alive?

You say you’ve tried getting help before, but it didn’t work out?

Afraid others won’t get it done right?

Don’t assume it’s just low productivity or inadequate skills and dedication. It could be you!

Are you sure you know how to use task delegation effectively?

Obstacles to Effective Task Delegation

The biggest obstacle to delegating successfully is the insistence on doing everything yourself. As a former executive assistant, I saw this in my executives and their teams ALL the time.

But, just because you can do a task, doesn’t mean that you should. You should actually be spending time on higher priorities.

In addition, not delegating can cause your team members to feel like you don’t trust them. You don’t need them. You don’t value them. I’ve also felt this way in past positions in the corporate world. Find a team member to delegate to. And if you don’t have team members, hire a VA. 😉

The second biggest obstacle to effective task delegation is blaming the one you delegated to but was not clear with your instructions or did not take the time to train them appropriately. Ineffective delegation only wastes time and hampers productivity.

Most people don’t know how to delegate effectively. You must be clear, responsive, and open‐minded in how you communicate your needs. The workflow must be agreed upon and adjusted for ideal performance.

Task delegation isn’t just a matter of telling someone else what to do. It’s about delegating the right tasks to the right person. And then working collaboratively with them to make sure they understand and are executing appropriately.

Benefits of Effective Task Delegation

If you successfully reduce time spent on lower-level or routine tasks through task delegation, you will have more time to commit to growth and planning. By delegating operational and routine tasks to someone else, your productivity will significantly increase.

Hand them off to someone else and let them do their job without micromanaging. Push a task down to the lowest level of responsibility possible. And delegate as much as possible.

High-level performers are experts at task delegation as they have learned that they can’t do everything themselves. Delegation becomes increasingly more important as you progress through your business or career and will greatly increase your productivity.

There is no other skill that will increase your productivity to the same degree as being able to delegate successfully. This is even more important as your time gets overtaken with everyday operational tasks, problems, and putting out fires.

Whether you’re a business owner, a small business manager, an employee trying to be more effective, an entrepreneur, or a solopreneur, you can use task delegation. It is the BEST way for you to execute time-consuming tasks.

Delegation is vital for effective leadership. And a hallmark of great leaders is how well they delegate.

Tips For More Effective Task Delegation:

• Allow enough time to explain exactly what is required or the outcome you desire. Create a clear set of responsibilities. Vagueness creates overlap and prevents people from taking ownership. Slow down enough to give clear instructions, be available for guidance along the way, and evaluate the job when done.

• Physical proximity should not impact the speed or effectiveness of task delegation. However, some upfront work is required on your part. You must create detailed process instructions and provide other training to those you delegate to. If you are working with a team member virtually, you can send these via email but be sure to follow up to ensure understanding.

• Check in regularly on the status of completion. You should have already clearly stated a deadline, so schedule status updates accordingly. By carefully monitoring the task, you can avoid misunderstandings, over-reporting, and step in if there is a problem. Work with them to resolve any issues without placing blame. Work collaboratively and help them to learn along the way.

• It’s not only important that you communicate clearly to those you delegate to, but it is also necessary that you communicate this transferred authority to all parties involved. Otherwise, you risk others not cooperating due to a perceived lack of authority or responsibility.

• Delegate one skill at a time to reduce risk and time. It is best to begin delegation with simple tasks such as routine tasks, planned tasks, or tasks that a team member has expressed an interest in. Make sure you give credit to the person completing the task and that it’s communicated to all those involved.

• Using a project management tool such as Wrike can make task delegation, checking on status, and sharing necessary information a breeze. Organize everything you need to complete your projects in one spot where everyone can view them.

Break large goals into manageable pieces, attach files, and set due dates. Easily track overall progress and individual contribution. Wrike integrates with many different other platforms making it easy to work with anyone, anywhere.

Final Thoughts

Effective task delegation is key to the growth of a successful business or career. You will be more successful when you spend time training and developing a team.

Be careful though as it’s easy to slip back into your old ways of trying to do it all yourself. When this happens, remind yourself of the bigger picture and your essential role in realizing it.

Also, you need to realize that effective task delegation helps team members feel like valuable, contributing, respected members of the team. It will empower them to be better and be even more loyal to the person who taught them. It’s a win-win!