While serving in an organization as a team leader, group leader or a manager, it is possible that you are loaded with work from time to time. This is where your team management skills will count in and you would be expected to carry out the tasks under the given deadlines, by allotting a suitable work to each employee.
As a manager, your success does not lie in the way you manage a team but how effectively you are able to communicate the tasks at hand and to have a recorded completion rate of those tasks. Task delegation is one of the most crucial skills that you must have if you are leading a team under you and there are only a few people who know the art of instruction and hence, go a long way in their management journey.
Here are some delegation strategies that can be used to get things done efficiently.
1- Set Priorities
In order to get things done smoothly, it is evident to line up all the tasks on the basis of the priority. This requires a detailed study of the underlying project, along with the consideration of deadline provided by the authorities. So when you break down the task into further steps, it will be easy for you to manage the time required to complete each step and thus you can instruct your team to start working on certain tasks, requiring more time as early as possible. Similarly, the tasks requiring relatively lesser time can be left for later.
So setting priorities can be counted on as the first strategy in your work delegation technique.
2- Assign tasks according to the employee’s skills:
If you aim to get a specific project done within the given deadline, analyze the skill set of your employees and assign tasks accordingly. This will help in the efficient completion of your task. Generally, team leaders end up dividing the work, by mere looking at who has the lightest workload, which is not an intelligent approach. You must recognize the strengths and the weakness of your employees and assign them the task accordingly.
3- Set substitute deadlines:
It is better to provide each employee with your own deadline, do not drag the work till the official deadline. This will provide you with ample time to go through the final product before having to actually submit it. You will have the opportunity to make amendments or even modify certain steps in order to create an even more effective result.
This must be considered as crucial approach while delegating the work to your team, otherwise, you may be able to complete the task within the official deadline and have to submit it without actually being satisfied with the work of your team.
4- Follow- up:
Even if you have an active team working as per your instructions, you need to constantly supervise every member of your team. As long as the project is not finished, you need to be standing on your toes by constantly following them up on a regular basis. Apart from verbal verification, it is necessary to be updated via emails.
5- Maintain Authority:
Though it is necessary to provide the employees with a friendly and pleasant environment, the need to maintain your authority as a team leader is indispensable. You must make it clear in a highly professional tone that you want this work to be done as instructed and within the given time frame. Do not forget to add the element of respect towards your team while giving instructions. Maintaining a balance between a cooperative and an authoritative team leader is necessary.6- Encourage Feedbacks:
Once the project is done, you must acknowledge the skill of the team member worthy of appreciation i.e. who has actually worked hard. Similarly, do not hesitate in providing constructive criticism to the member who needs it. This will help them to understand their weaknesses and will aid in growing professionally.