Project Management Knowledge

Simply explained by a PMI-certified Project Manager

delegation

Become Better at Delegation

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Leadership skills are the key to becoming an effective project manager. One part of leadership is the ability to delegate work to the people on your project management team. However, unless a certain amount of respect is not present, delegation can be a difficult task to accomplish.

There are several ways to earn the respect of those working for you. First of all you must demonstrate an ability and willingness to do the task at hand yourself. It shouldn’t appear that you are just dumping work that you don’t want to do onto someone else.

Next, let the person know what the overall plan is and explain its importance to the project as a whole. If they understand the task is important to the completion of the project, it is likely they will have a better perspective and will take the job more seriously. The work, however, should assist them in meeting their own goals. Base your delegation on what is important to them, not on what is important to you.

The task should present a challenge and it should be offered in that way. No one likes to have busy work thrown at them, especially if they believe you don’t think they have the ability necessary to take on challenging tasks.
Communicate expectations clearly and solicit feedback.

A project manager should also be likeable. By getting to know the other people on the team it becomes easier to be sincerely interested and sensitive to each individual’s unique qualities. In addition, really knowing those who work for you helps to utilize their strengths and avoid assigning tasks where they might not excel.

Finally, you should be willing to give public credit to project management team members once tasks have been completed successfully. A little praise can go a long way, but be sure you are sincere in what you say.

Delegate Without Losing Control

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The old saying, “If you want something done right, do it yourself,” does not always ring true when it comes to project management. It is important to know that you can’t do everything yourself and delegation is an essential part of being an effective project manager.

As a project manager it can be difficult to delegate because you may feel a loss of control and power. After all it is your responsibility to make sure the goals of the project are met. Remember, however, that power must be used appropriately and poor delegation can lead to resistance or even resentment from project members. Maintaining a balance between delegation and control can be very tricky.

First of all, you should use the least amount of power needed to reach the desired outcome. Start out with a small use of power and increase that amount if you feel it isn’t working. It’s also important that you don’t abuse the power you have. Never use power for personal gain especially if you have no authorization to do so.

When delegating duties and power, try giving people a choice but make sure the choices are ones you can live with. For example you could give these two choices: “Would it be possible to do this by tomorrow or do you need until the end of the week?” Don’t however ask: “Do you want to do this?” The answer to that question might not be what you want to hear and it also takes away from the project manager’s power.

Be involved in project members’ tasks, but don’t become over-involved. Frequent checking of progress is important so that you can spot problems early, but too much checking can be interpreted to mean you don’t trust their abilities.

Once you become comfortable using these strategies, you can move on to letting others make decisions and set agendas while you, as project manager, control the environment.