How To Delegate Tasks: 6 Things You Should Know

If you’re a manager or a business owner, one of the key skills you need to have is knowing how and when to delegate. As a company grows, the number of tasks that need to be accomplished in a day also grows. Over time, your responsibilities as a leader will become too much to handle on your own.

Stop trying to do everything yourself. Regardless if you’re a solopreneur wearing different and distinct hats every day, an executive leading a large organization, or a middle manager handling a project, you’re going to have to let go at some point. One person can’t do everything. If you attempt to do this, you’ll only end up burned out. Moreover, the quality of work suffers and you might even miss deadlines.

Delegating isn’t a bad thing. It doesn’t mean you’re weak or you lack the right skills to accomplish daily tasks. More than anything, it makes you a stronger leader. While letting go may be difficult, it’s an even bigger burden dealing with the resulting burnout from micromanaging too many tasks.

If you’re unsure where to start then you’ve come to the right place. In this blog, we’ll be talking about how you can delegate tasks effectively and efficiently to freelancers. Let’s get started!

The Benefits Of Delegation

When you delegate, you transfer responsibility for certain tasks to someone else, usually a subordinate or a specialist. It is a critical skill that can be challenging to learn for some. This is because it involves giving up control and trusting in the abilities of others to complete tasks.

Nevertheless, the most effective leaders know the value of knowing when and how to delegate tasks. When you delegate, you get to enjoy these benefits:

More Time to Accomplish Higher-Level Tasks

When you delegate, you’re not bogged down by less important tasks. This gives you more time to focus on higher-level tasks such as running the core operations or building your network to grow your business.

Through delegating, you can make better use of your time. As a leader, your time is better spent on activities that will propel your company forward. You can’t scale a business if you’re constantly in a race against time to finish repetitive work.

Improve Efficiency in the Workplace

No one can be adept at everything. Sure, you can have different skills but some people are better equipped with skills and experience to accomplish certain tasks.

When you delegate, you can make your business more efficient since you won’t be stuck figuring things out for yourself. For example, if you need to add some new features to your online store and you’re not particularly skilled at web development and design, then handing over the reins to a specialist is your best course of action. This way, you can be more productive by focusing on tasks you’re much better at.

Improve your Quality of Life

Running a business is not easy. As your responsibility grows, your work-related stress also increases which takes a toll on your emotional well-being.  Furthermore, trying to do everything yourself will often mean working long hours. So you won’t have time to spend with your family and friends.

When you offload certain tasks by delegating, you give yourself a chance to take a break without compromising the growth of your business. You could be miles away from your office enjoying a mimosa and still get the work done.

Who Should You Delegate To?

When you’re running a big business, delegating tasks to junior members of your organization is the most obvious route. However, if you’re a small to medium business and your manpower is on the limited side of the spectrum, your best bet is to hire a freelancer to get things done.

Working with independent contractors from freelance marketplaces like FreeUp is a cost-effective and time-efficient way to delegate a wide range of tasks including but not limited to accounting and bookkeeping, managing administrative tasks, customer service, data entry, IT support, marketing, packing and shipping, website design and development, writing, and graphic design.

When choosing someone to delegate to, whether a freelancer or someone in-house, always consider their experience knowledge, and skills; their preferred work style; and their current workload. The perfect candidate should:

• Have the skills, knowledge, and attitude that will allow them to accomplish the task well and on time. Ideally, you’d want to go for someone who doesn’t need to learn the ropes first before getting started.
• Be able to work independently and with minimal supervision. However, they should also be able to take feedback well and consider your preferences.
• Be able to fit the task with their other responsibilities and workload. Sometimes, people juggle different things every day so the person you’re delegating to should be able to manage their time well to accomplish everything on their plate.

How To Delegate Tasks

Delegating is a skill that takes time and practice to master. However, with these tips, you can start delegating tasks effectively and efficiently in no time.

Know What to Delegate

Certain tasks lend themselves well to being delegated. For example, tiny tasks that only take a small amount of time to accomplish like scheduling meetings, booking flights, or managing your inbox. These tasks add up over time and can take away precious hours from you.

Mindless tasks that don’t require a lot of skill can also be delegated to someone else. Tasks such as data entry can easily be passed off to someone else.

Teachable tasks that don’t require expert knowledge are also great candidates for delegation. If you have tasks on your plate that require very little time for someone else to learn, then go ahead and delegate them.

Tasks you’re terrible at are also best delegated to a specialist. Your business should let some who’s more equipped to do certain types of work quickly and well. If you’re not good at writing copy, then let a writer do it. If you don’t have strong graphic design skills then let a professional designer take over.

Finally, certain tasks that are a part of a time-sensitive project may also be delegated to someone else. If you don’t have time to finish everything by yourself, then you can bring someone on board to make sure that you finish the project on time.

Match the Person to the Task

A key thing to remember when you delegate a task is the person you’ll be handing over the responsibility to should have the right skills and experience for it. You can’t expect great results by delegating a task to the wrong person. He or she should be capable of doing it properly and on time.

When choosing a person to delegate a task to, remember that they should have performed it satisfactorily in the past. Another factor to keep in mind is their intimate knowledge of the rudiments of the task.

Discuss the Task in Detail

When you delegate, it’s important that the person you’re giving the responsibility to understands the task from inside and out. Take the time to talk about the details of the task including your objectives and desired result.

For teachable tasks, it’s also useful to explain to the person if you have a preferred approach or method. Explain how you would like to see it done or how it was done successfully in the past. Having written guidelines can be helpful as well since the person in charge of the task can read it beforehand or refer back to it when needed.

To make this process more inclusive, you can also ask the person you’re delegating the task to for suggestions. They might have tricks that can make accomplishing the task more efficient.

Set Schedules and Clarify Expectations

Don’t forget to discuss timelines and deadlines for the task. This is especially necessary for time-sensitive projects or tasks. You can also schedule checkpoints for reviewing the progress of a project. Don’t forget to review all submitted work to see if it is up to par with your expectations and give enough lead time for revisions or updates.

If you’re delegating a high-priority task, always be upfront with it. Remember, delegating isn’t just about making the most out of your time and productivity. You also have to think about the person in charge of the task so they can make the necessary adjustments and manage their time wisely.

Use The Right Communication and Collaboration Tools

Communication is crucial especially if you’re delegating to freelancers. Be sure to use the right tools for collaboration, project management, communication. There’s a wide variety of options such as Google Drive, Asana, Trello, Skype, and Slack.

When you use tools like these, you can easily track the process of delegated tasks and you can also post and answer questions easily when the need arises.

Don’t Micromanage

There’s a fine line between keeping communication lines open and micromanaging people. Giving up some control is necessary if you want to reap the benefits of delegating. Don’t breathe on the neck of the person in charge of the task. Instead, let go and trust that they’re skilled enough to deliver the results you need promptly. This way, there’ll be less stress on your part and the part of the person doing the task.

Delegate to a Freelancer Today

Learning to delegate is crucial for building a successful business. By following our tips above, you can increase your productivity, manage your time well, and improve your quality of life.

Are you ready to hire a freelancer you can delegate tasks to? Sign up today to find a freelancer who can help you grow and scale your business.