When you have a task or project that comes up- how do you decide who to delegate that task to? Do you choose someone that is reliable and quick to respond? Do you ask the first person you see in the hallway? Or do you choose the right person for the task at hand?
If you spent a moment thinking about the task and the core competencies and responsibilities of your team, the answer should be clear. Here are a few questions to get you started:
Once you have this figured out for everyone on your team, then the delegation should come naturally, and your team members should expect to see tasks of similar nature land on their plate on a regular basis.
Tip 2: Do Quarterly Check-Ins
The second tip for managing your staff effectively has to do with having regular check-ins. And this is done with a quarterly plan which is a simple one-page document that lays out the priorities for each team member for this quarter to help them decide where to spend their most time and effort. Every month you want to sit down together with your direct reports and decide what the top three focus areas are this quarter and the criteria of success surrounding each focus area. It should be very clear at the end of this meeting what is expected of each team member and how success will be measured.
And then you are going to check in weekly to see where they stand on those items in their quarterly report. Or at the very least, biweekly, so that it allows you to hold them accountable, to support them, and to celebrate the progress that they’re making, and to really get an idea on where they stand on the items of priority.
And since it’s just one page of action items, this can easily be done at 1-on-1 meetings or together as a group.
By focusing on assigning the right tasks and projects to the right individual and then doing regular check-ins together as a team you can ensure that more of the important work gets done in the time allotted, and you can then focus on growing and developing your business even faster.