The efficient process on how to delegate work to employees is a crucial factor for an organization to run like a well-oiled machine. This also increases productivity and it is a practice common to effective leaders. Although common knowledge, many are struggling to implement delegation effectively. Here are five crucial tips on how to delegate work to employees:

1. Make a delegation list.

You may already have one, but the goal of this is to revisit all deliverables to identify tasks to delegate to the staff, and tasks that are crucial. Some examples for these deliverables are final approval on projects, unless there is someone on the team sure-footed in making these final decisions. Also, it is essential to assess the size of the workforce to determine the quantity of the workload to delegate.

2. Categorize deliverables and set milestones for delegation.

Now that the to-do list is complete, determine tasks to accomplish daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly. Sort them into milestones and determine the urgency. This is a great tip for scheduling deliverables in advance. This would be a brilliant way to distribute the workload evenly on your schedule and a handy calendar overview.

3. Bank on the strength of your employees.

Strategize by getting-to-know who’s good at which aspect by distinguishing the strengths and weaknesses of employees and detect which tasks they are most efficient on. This helps designate which team members are the best fit for different roles in the team. Review the experience and consider the best person to take them on.

4. Give concise directions to employees.

Once we know who is best in doing what, it’s time to give directions. When doing this, provide instructions with utmost clarity. Your assignee should get all the documents and resources they need to complete the task. Make sure they are aware on how to navigate bottlenecks by sharing previous hurdles you previously experienced and how you overcame those.

5. Trust and learn to let go.

Sometimes it would seem easier if we just complete the task ourselves. But if we let this happen, we’ll never be able to successfully delegate work to employees. It takes some getting used to, but avoid nitpicking tiny steps and let the assignee have full authority to take on the responsibilities assigned to them. This allows the team to develop personal accountability and ownership. This enables us to identify members who can get things done with minimum supervision.

Set an appropriate timing when giving feedback. For milestones, it is best to start checking how they are on the task. Once the task is complete and you review the output, make sure the employee feels your gratitude, let them give you feedback and ask if they have any suggestions on improving a particular process. This boosts their sense of ownership on the responsibilities assigned to them.

Let the team explore other fields. Be open to learning new tools too!