Meggin’s Current Articles

10 Tips For Effectively Tracking Tasks You Have Delegated

16th March, 2010 - Posted by Meggin - No Comments

Do you think that once you have delegated a task, it is no longer your responsibility? Do you assume the other person will do what you have asked, so you no longer need to worry? Of course, you know that neither of these are smart assumptions.

Once you’ve delegated a task it is still your responsibility to track its progression and its completion. What are effective ways of doing this? Listed below are 10 possibilities. NOTE: You don’t need to do them all. Just choose one or two that will work for you.

When you are delegating, write in your planner when you will check and when the project is due. It is wise to watch and/or encourage your delegatee to do the same.

Write deadlines for projects you have delegated on a large wall calendar in a certain color marker. Give a glance to that calendar each day to see if you have items you should be following up on.

If you send tasks to someone via email, be sure to use the subject line with “Task” at the front and then save all these task emails to a folder you check regularly.

When emailing, include the deadline of the task in the subject line. This is for you and for your delegatee.

Be deliberate and clear about deadlines up front and don’t change your mind. You are less believable and it’s easy for you and the other person to become confused.

If the task you are delegating requires the work of several people, set up a group in your email and send updates to the entire group. Out of sight can be out of mind, so you want to keep your project on people’s minds.

Tell the person to whom you are delegating when you will check back. Write it in your planner (or enter it in your PDA) as you are talking with the person and encourage that person to do the same. Then, be prompt and consistent on your follow-up.

Don’t nag the person to whom you are delegating before the agreed upon “check back” time. Have you ever heard the term “micromanage”?

If the project is not completed by the deadline, problem-solve with the person to whom you’ve delegated so it doesn’t happen again. Use these opportunities for learning and growth (for both of you).

Thank the person who completed the task (and/or is meeting the subdeadlines when you check in). Good manners, respect, and acknowledgment are always in order.

Tracking those tasks you have delegated helps you and the “delegatee” feel more confident. Find one or two (or more) of these ideas that will work for you and your working style. Then, implement the idea(s) right away.

To learn the specifics of delegation, sign up for the 5-hour training package I did recently on “Deputize…Then Delegate.” You’ll receive a hefty handout packet and downloadable MP3s–a total of nearly 5 hours of instruction. It will make a world of difference.

** http://meggin.com/DeputizeThenDelegate.php

(c) 2010 by Meggin McIntosh, Ph.D., “The Ph.D. of Productivity”(tm).