New to managing? Kick off your journey by assigning tasks smartly!
Foreword:
I wrote this article because I noticed that when team members get promoted to managerial position, they often struggle with various issues, and one of them is ineffective delegation (and sometimes, no delegation). Therefore, I will discuss the fundamental principles of delegation for the newbie managers.
Just promoted to a supervisor position, people often can’t break away from the inertia of being a grassroots worker. They always feel like they have to do everything themselves, making themselves tired and tense, and as a result, their team members have nothing to do. Therefore, as a supervisor, it is important to confidently delegate tasks!
However, not all tasks should be assigned, and delegation also requires skill. Based on my own experience, I will briefly share with you:
Step 1: Identify the nature of the task
Generally, we classify tasks as “important” or “urgent”, but as a supervisor, we should not be doing everything ourselves. A good supervisor should try to delegate tasks to others as much as possible, so I consider two factors: “authority” and “team member’s ability”. For this matter, consider the following questions in order:
- Am I the only one who has the authority to do it?
If yes, then forget it, you will always end up doing it yourself. - They could do it, but can they do it?
If yes, then let them do it. If they are not very good at it, consider the next question. - Is it urgent?
If yes, then do it yourself, but make sure to take note of how to teach the team member to do it in the future, as this represents poor guidance. If it is not urgent, consider the next question. - Is it important?
If yes, teach and supervise them while they do it.
If it is not important, let them learn to do it when they have nothing else to do.
Step 2: Preparation before delegation
After classifying what needs to be done by yourself and what needs to be delegated, for the latter, we need to provide “guidelines” and “acceptance criteria”.
Guidelines:
The guidelines should be clear and flexible. Clarity and flexibility may seem contradictory, but good planning should be able to strike a balance. Let the guidelines reach the point of “one point too many, one point too few”.
Acceptance criteria:
As for the acceptance criteria, it should be quantified as much as possible, such as “the budget cannot exceed 100,000”, “must be completed before 12/30”, “must reach at least 10,000 exposures”.
As a manager, we need to use resources, especially human resources, to complete tasks. If we cannot use resources properly, we will end up working overtime, achieving poor results, and wasting resources (idle manpower), which is the scariest thing.
When you’re overwhelmed by workload, take a good look at the tasks at hand and make appropriate assignments.
Because a good manager needs to allocate a buffer for addressing unknown risks or providing support to his/her team members when they need it.
