Assigning work requires a great deal of trust, communication, coordination, and collaboration. When managers delegate specific tasks to other employees, they take work off of their own plate — allowing them to focus their time and efforts elsewhere. This empowers employees to develop new skills, demonstrate their capabilities, and feel valued as an autonomous team member. Organizations of all sizes can benefit from proper delegation.
There are certain ways to improve this process, including switching to automated systems, taking advantage of managed service providers (MSP) to outsource specific work, and utilizing different technology that creates or improves processes. The following tools can aid in providing seamless delegation across the board.
Communication Tools
According to an Inc. survey, 91% of employees say their bosses lack communication skills. Effective communication is extremely important in the workplace because it's vital to getting things done well and building relationships. It improves worker productivity, increases job satisfaction, minimizes absenteeism and turnover rates, and enhances relationships with both customers and suppliers. The following tools can help mitigate issues and improve the way managers communicate:
Zoom
Zoom is a video-telephony and online chat platform. Users can host meetings, video webinars, and conference rooms. You can have up to 1,000 video participants and 10,000 non-participant viewers. There are also screen sharing capabilities. There is a free option, but larger companies may need to take advantage of the different paid tiers in order to include all of their employees.
Google Meet
Google Meet is an online conference call platform. You can share your screen, integrate other Google applications, and offer real-time captions to meeting attendees. Pricing depends on the number of users and the length of the meetings.
Slack
Slack is an online chat platform that offers instant messaging and video chatting capabilities. You can create different Slack channels that help control visibility and access for employees, clients, and departments. Users can customize their notifications. Plans start at $6.67 and increase based on business size and capabilities.
TeamGantt
TeamGantt is an online communication tool that is great for external communication with clients, as well as management. Users can collaborate with coworkers through different charts in order to provide internal and external stakeholders and clients with project updates, and insight into the success of specific tasks or projects. There is a free option, but it only works for one project. The other tiers vary depending on the number of users and the different capabilities needed.
Collaboration Tools
In most businesses, it is impossible for one person to juggle every facet of the operation. This means that, more often than not, there are multiple team members working with one another to complete tasks. Collaboration tools and digital applications help with delegation by keeping everyone on the same page. Some examples are:
Asana
This is an easy-to-use project management tool. Managers can assign tasks to different employees, create due dates, track progress, add comments, and attach necessary information (documents, sources, client information and folders, etc.). Asana is available for both desktop and mobile devices, and there is a free version. There is also a paid premium option that offers additional features.
Igloo
Igloo creates collaboration solutions by bringing together departments, project teams, and regions. It offers specific spaces for different employees and departments, calendar capabilities, interactive forums, file sharing, task creation, and blog posting to communicate company or process changes and updates. The prices vary depending on the scale of your business operations and users.
Google Docs
Google Docs allow for collaborators to work out of a live document. You can give access to the document to anyone via email or a shareable link and specify writing, commenting and editing, and viewing capabilities — which is ideal for including both employees and clients. There are a variety of templates for specific projects, and they offer a specific version for businesses. Business monthly plans start at $5 per user.
Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 offers tools to collaborate for desktop and mobile users. It provides the ability to attend meetings online, share different data and office-related files, and co-author specific tasks in real-time through a variety of Microsoft products and apps. Users can collaborate with select individuals or as a team. Pricing varies depending on the number of users and capabilities.
Quip
Quip offers a unique opportunity for both sales and service-based industries. Users can utilize real-time documents, spreadsheets, and chat capabilities to digitally collaborate as necessary. There are three different pricing tiers that each offer different sales and service capabilities.
Email Management and Calendar Tools
A well-managed email inbox and calendar can help managers prioritize and stay on top of tasks as well as communicate both directly and indirectly. When a manager has insight into an employee’s schedule, they can delegate tasks accordingly. When email is well-managed, it’s possible to navigate and prioritize important emails to ensure nothing slips past you.
Email Center Pro from Palo Alto Software
This is a shared inbox that helps boost productivity. Users can delegate tasks, leave private notes, utilize template responses, and take advantage of email analytics. This platform costs $12.50 per month, per user.
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a time-management and scheduling calendar that is serviced by Google. Users are able to schedule events, respond to and manage events, set reminders, share and view other calendars, customize their calendars, and create notes and tasks. The price for businesses is $5 per month, or $50 per year, per user.
Cloud Sharing
While some organizations are hesitant to switch over to cloud infrastructure because of cloud migration questions, migrating your information to the cloud yields a variety of benefits. Some of the associated benefits directly improve the ability to delegate and collaborate — these include:
Improving compatibility with technology
Enhancing the ability to scale as change is needed
Offering a shared space to offer access to data and information
Improving processes for managing large volumes and data from different sources and platforms
Creating additional opportunities to adopt new systems that improve business functions — such as artificial intelligence and machine learning
Acquiring cloud services and choosing the proper infrastructure can be huge factors in any digital transformation. When you migrate to the cloud, your information is in one area that managers can offer access to. This creates a better method for communicating task-related information to employees.
Also Read: Salesforce Sales Cloud
Data and Analytics
Taking advantage of data and analytics services is useful for all types of organizations for a number of reasons. These services can directly help with the strategy, prioritization, and road-mapping that impacts delegation within an organization.
Implementing proper data hygiene can improve your business strategies as a whole. When your data is properly managed, it makes it easier to provide to employees. When you have insight into analytics, you can better determine which employees to delegate specific tasks to.
