Delegation 101

Delegation 101

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Delegating tasks is an important way for you to balance your groups workload while also helping team members to grow. But farming out responsibilities can be a daunting task by itself. Weve put together some principles to help you get the best results from delegating within your PMO.

How

Your delegation methods will help to set your team up for success.

Delegate completely. That doesnt mean you delegate everythinginstead, it means that you need to trust that your team can take on the new tasks and succeed at them. Dont micromanage, dont hover, and dont take back a task unless youve exhausted every other option.

Be available to help. Your team members may have questions about the tasks youve given them, and its important that you dont see that as a bad thing. Answering their questions and providing direction is how your staff will learn and gain expertise.

Why

There are a couple of primary reasons you should delegate within your team.

Workload. Theres too much work for just one person. Your team needs to rely on the combined skills, expertise, and energy of all its members in order to accomplish everything on the schedule.

Improving skill sets. Theres no better way to nurture new talents than to put them to use. When your team members are given tasks that test their abilities, theyll have the opportunity to improve and expand their skill sets.

What to delegate

Use these guidelines to determine which tasks you should keep and which make sense to delegate.

Tasks that dont require your attention. There are many issues that only YOU can deal with, either because you have specific expertise or as a result of your seniority or authority. Any task that doesnt fit that criteria should be considered for delegation. Remember, though, to keep your teams workload reasonable and equitable.

Fun stuff. Yep, its time to recognize that fun stuff really does exist in project management, and your team deserves to enjoy some of it. If you only delegate boring or unpleasant tasks, youre drastically undermining your PMOs sense of team. Farm out the fun stuff and everyone will be more eager to pitch in when the mundane tasks crop up.
Difficult tasks. Too many managers keep the hard stuff for themselves because they arent sure their team is up to the task. Its better in the long runfor you and your teamif you learn to delegate tough tasks while also assuring your staff that youre available to help if they need it. Youll free up more of your own time to focus on higher level issues, youll be providing your team with fantastic growth opportunities, and you can still shepherd tasks along as your staff learns the ropes.

What to keep for yourself

As you evaluate the tasks and issues facing your PMO, youll find some that arent good candidates for delegation. Below are a few examples.

Supervisory issues. Anything related to the management of your direct reports is your responsibility (and yours alone). A matrix reporting environment doesnt change anythingyoull only be doing your employees a disservice if you delegate the supervisory tasks that belong to you.

Budget accountability. Final responsibility for submitting accurate budgets, meeting budget objectives, and preventing cost overruns in your area(s) isnt something you should delegate, even if others in your group share some of those tasks along the way.

Documentation oversight. Its likely that others in your group have day-to-day responsibility for contributing to or maintaining your PMOs documentation, but the overall task of ensuring accuracy, completeness, and compliance should remain with you.

About the Author:
PMAlliance, Inc. is a project management consulting, project management training and project office development company.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


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