Questions to Ask When Delegating Work
“If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself”. We’ve all heard this quote before and for many Account Executives and Project Managers, these words are part of their everyday mantra. Completing a task yourself ensures it is done to your clients’ satisfaction and in their time frame. You also know the brand inside and out and have a firm understanding of the project and the client’s expectations so there is an extra sense of confidence that comes with doing the work yourself.
In my role as an Account Executive at The BLU Group – Advertising and Marketing I feel a sense of satisfaction when personally completing a project and feel a connection to my clients when I work hard on their behalf on the various tasks that go into that. However, there are only so many hours in a day and in order to ensure that my time is used effectively; certain tasks within a project have to be delegated to another team member to be completed successfully.
The idea of delegating can be a challenge at times because as the Account Executive I feel a strong sense of responsibility for the success of the project. So to help me decide when I should delegate the task at hand to another team member, I ask myself these four questions:
- Is it a task that someone else has the skills to complete? Often times there are tasks that Account Executives must complete themselves, such as meetings with the client, strategic planning, scheduling, budget development and monitoring, and / or project oversight. However, there are other tasks that with a little training, another team member could complete. For example, find the team member who has strong attention to detail and teach them how to use Constant Contact to generate e-newsletters.
- Does the task provide an opportunity to strengthen or develop another team member’s skills? If another member of your team would learn from taking the task on, and the schedule allows for it, give them the opportunity to further develop their skills. Allowing them the chance to fine tune their abilities in a particular area will also come in handy the next time a similar task comes in. For example, if a team member has a background or interest in writing, ask them to proof work prior to it being sent out to help develop their eye.
- Will the task reoccur? It’s common to feel that we do not have the time needed to train another team member on how to complete a task, and that it would be faster to just complete it ourselves. While this may be true in some instances, if the task will reoccur it will save you time in the long run if you train someone now. For example, if you teach another team member how to make simple website updates using the CMS of Drupal, when additional website changes come in for a website with a Drupal CMS, they can complete them.
- Should I delegate the task? The tasks within a project all must be completed effectively in order for the project to be a success. High quality work should always come first, so if you don’t have someone else with the ability to produce the work needed, it should be something that you complete yourself. You should never pass along creative briefs, strategy development, budget work, or scheduling.
When done correctly, delegating tasks can allow you the time to work on the highest priority tasks, while bringing your team together for the successful completion of a project.
Do you find delegating tasks easy? What questions do you ask yourself to help determine which tasks to delegate?
