Business Growth Tip: How to Delegate Tasks

Sometimes, you will have a lot of work on your hands and very little time to handle all of them effectively. In such instances, you will want to hand the excess tasks over to someone who is skilled enough to deal with them.

This practice of handing over tasks to other members of your team is called delegation. Often, business owners and senior staff will delegate responsibilities to lower-level employees or contractors so that they can deal with issues they consider more important.

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This approach helps maintain the pace of work at an organization and ensures that a lot more gets done within a limited time frame. It also maximizes the productivity of staff, as they are able to exercise their skills and grow on the job with each new responsibility handed to them.

Whether you are a business owner or an employee at a company, it’s important that you know how to delegate tasks when you have to. If you’re delegating to staff or a coworker who is skilled at what you want them to do, you’ll probably only need to share a bit of information about the task.  If it’s a less-experienced person, you may have to provide more detailed instructions for them to follow.

Steps to Delegating Responsibilities at Work

Here’s how to delegate responsibilities at work.

1. Ask Someone Who Can Do the Job

If it’s a job that requires special skills to execute, you may have to call on someone who is qualified to take it on. Some degree of experience may also be needed, so you want to be sure that the person you’re delegating to is familiar enough with the project or material they will be tackling.

2. Provide Details of the Work to Be Done

Explain what the task is about, how it should be approached, and the outcomes you expect from its completion.

3. Present the Big Picture

Let the subordinate know what a properly completed task will mean for your department or company, and what the consequences of below-par delivery could be. If it’s a really crucial project, explain to them how it helps the team and organization in the more general scheme of things.  

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4. Determine Standards for the Job

Determine ways to measure the successful completion of the task with the subordinate who you are handing it to. Be sure that the targets you set are realistic and attainable within the time frame in which you expect them to be achieved.

5. Give them the Resources they Need

The resources for the job could be equipment, money, or training. Make sure the person who you’re passing work to is furnished with all they need to get the job done.

6. Thank them After they Complete the Task

Don’t forget to acknowledge them for taking on the job when they have completed it. If they fall short of the expected goal in any way, help them see how they could do a better job. 

Conclusion

If you are able to delegate responsibilities the right way, your business will record greater levels of productivity. This, in turn, positions your business for growth on all fronts.

Featured image source: Shutterstock

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ikenna-nwachukwu

Ikenna Nwachukwu holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He loves to look at the world through multiple lenses- economic, political, religious and philosophical- and to write about what he observes in a witty, yet reflective style.

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