Proper assignment of tasks to employees for effective implementation
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 5:53 am
The efficiency of its implementation by subordinates directly depends on the setting of tasks, so this is one of the most important work skills of a manager. The competencies of the management consist in clearly defining the company's goals and tasks for a certain period, as well as indicating the methods for their implementation. If this does not happen, employees incorrectly interpret the task set, which undermines the work process.
Why is it important to set tasks for employees?
Just as a correctly posed question contains half the answer, so a correctly posed task for subordinates contains half the solution.
The organization of any process is based on setting and fulfilling tasks. When the activity is spontaneous and chaotic, the result can be achieved, but either short-term, or of poor quality, or practically insignificant.
Calltouch
Attract, convert and analyze your customers
Omnichannel Marketing Platform
Read more
In emergency situations afghanistan phone number resource lightning-fast reactions and actions according to the situation are the most effective means. But even in such circumstances, there is often time for coordination. And if so, it is better to use it, because planned actions are better than thoughtless ones. This is especially true when solving problems in a group.
Why is it important to set tasks for employees?
Disjointed actions of a group of people can damage the process. At the same time, teamwork can enhance the effect of each participant's labor input.
Setting goals organizes not only collective work, but also the activity of a specific person. Losing weight after winter is only a goal. But in order to achieve it, you should set the goal of regularly doing physical exercises and observing moderation in nutrition.
So, we will devote a separate material to personal motivation, and here we will pay attention specifically to the question of how to set tasks in teamwork.
What types of tasks are there?
All tasks are divided by urgency status and their priority. They are:
Important and long-term projects are those that set global goals for business development. For example, getting to the top of search results in a certain segment, increasing the company's monthly profit.
Important current tasks are those that can be done today or postponed until a more appropriate time, but not delayed.
Daily - daily tasks that managers perform every day.
Situational - other tasks that arise in connection with certain events: organizing a corporate event, purchasing materials.
Business
Read also:
What is an attribution model and which one is right for your business
How to set tasks correctly
Effective goal setting is not a simple checklist . It consists of several components:
Proper distribution of roles;
Specification of action and result;
Assignment of responsible persons;
Term limitation;
Using tracking tools.
Distribution of roles
It is necessary to determine the roles that all team members play.
Before setting tasks, it is necessary to determine the roles that all team members play.
The ideal process for selecting a team to execute a strategic plan looks like this:
The manager’s primary task is to formulate a complete list of competencies required to implement the project.
According to competencies, the structure of the department or the entire team, the functionality and responsibilities of each participant are described.
The manager recruits specialists who are most suitable for performing the duties in the described positions.
Taking into account the competence, strengths and weaknesses of all subordinates, the manager formulates tactical and strategic tasks and appoints performers.
Unfortunately, in practice, the manager is not always empowered to select personnel and adjust the composition of the team under his supervision. Therefore, in many cases, the given plan for organizing teamwork turns out to be very limited.
However, it is necessary to make the most of all available opportunities for distributing roles in the team. First, you should start by assessing the skills of each subordinate. After that, build a structure of responsibility and communications in which the existing staff of specialists will show the greatest efficiency.
Everyone must clearly understand their role in the common cause, the limits of opportunities and responsibilities. The arrangement of players on the field will help:
Eliminate overlapping responsibilities of different employees, whereby the same work is inadvertently performed twice or three times.
Eliminate idle tasks without an executor.
Specifying the action and the result
Next, you need to package your strategy or goals for the near future into a set of specific actions that your employees can take to achieve the intended result.
The mistake managers make is that many are accustomed to using abstract formulations. For example, they set tasks in the form of a name - in the nominative case.
— Shipment of porcelain tiles.
Such formulations do not encourage action, they are associated with passive statement. At the same time, this formulation does not contain details that will help to understand how to start the task and what result to get.
— Ship 2 tons of 60x60 porcelain tiles to the warehouse in Odintsovo, call the office and sign in the register.
Here, as you can see, the process is described in much more detail. Instead of a meaningless "name" of the task, which tells the employee absolutely nothing, such a detailed formulation gives instructions for action.
This may seem elementary or unimportant, but changing nouns to verbs in the problem statement:
Much more strongly associated with action;
Helps to get your bearings and start solving the problem;
Gives motivation.
Assignment of responsible persons
The formulated task is immediately addressed to a specific performer
The formulated task is immediately addressed to a specific performer.
As has already been noted earlier, the tasks themselves largely stem from the capabilities and competencies of the team. In this regard, each task is partly assigned to pre-determined performers and immediately addressed to them.
By assigning those responsible who you believe are best suited to the task, you ensure the best possible outcome.
Having responsible people allows you to always keep the process under control. You know exactly which employee is currently working on a particular task. This allows you to request the status, make adjustments, and provide feedback at any time.
Upon completion of the work, the subordinate provides the finished materials, the quality of which is his sole responsibility. Thus, if there are any shortcomings, it is always clear to whom to direct questions and comments.
Term Limitation
Equally important are the limited time frames for completing the task.
If deadlines are not set, the performer may feel that they are unlimited, and therefore can indulge in procrastination without any problem.
To avoid confusion and downtime, deadlines should be set immediately after assigning those responsible. Even if it is impossible to accurately estimate the scope of work, an intermediate checkpoint should be set. Up until this date, the employee must do the maximum possible within the framework of the assigned task.
On the day of submitting the interim result, you and your subordinate must:
Assess the pace of work;
Discuss and resolve any issues or suggestions that arise;
Set an approximate time frame for the full completion of the task.
Task tracking
In order not only to set tasks, but also to obtain high-quality results, it is necessary to have tools that allow you to control the progress of work and all the nuances of the process.
Rather than trying to reconstruct all tasks and their aspects from memory, it is better to document this information from the start.
But not all tools improve process visibility and your productivity as a controller.
For example, a regular notebook may seem like a good solution, but in reality, you're more likely to get confused when recording the progress of work with pen and paper. Usually, tracking tasks requires much more space than a standard notebook page can provide, and constantly adjusting and adding statuses in it is not possible at all.
It is better to use electronic tools - especially since now we always have a gadget at hand, but often cannot find a pen. All software solutions have adapted mobile versions and applications, so the full set of task data is always available on a smartphone, tablet and personal computer.
Depending on the scale of the project, software of varying power may be used.
For solo performers, startups and small departments, working options include: Google Docs, Trello, Basecamp, Wunderlist, Slack.
Large projects that require serious man-hours use: JIRA, Redmine, the recently released Yandex.Tracker. In some cases , CRM is used if the problem being solved is broader than simply setting and monitoring tasks.
Why is it important to set tasks for employees?
Just as a correctly posed question contains half the answer, so a correctly posed task for subordinates contains half the solution.
The organization of any process is based on setting and fulfilling tasks. When the activity is spontaneous and chaotic, the result can be achieved, but either short-term, or of poor quality, or practically insignificant.
Calltouch
Attract, convert and analyze your customers
Omnichannel Marketing Platform
Read more
In emergency situations afghanistan phone number resource lightning-fast reactions and actions according to the situation are the most effective means. But even in such circumstances, there is often time for coordination. And if so, it is better to use it, because planned actions are better than thoughtless ones. This is especially true when solving problems in a group.
Why is it important to set tasks for employees?
Disjointed actions of a group of people can damage the process. At the same time, teamwork can enhance the effect of each participant's labor input.
Setting goals organizes not only collective work, but also the activity of a specific person. Losing weight after winter is only a goal. But in order to achieve it, you should set the goal of regularly doing physical exercises and observing moderation in nutrition.
So, we will devote a separate material to personal motivation, and here we will pay attention specifically to the question of how to set tasks in teamwork.
What types of tasks are there?
All tasks are divided by urgency status and their priority. They are:
Important and long-term projects are those that set global goals for business development. For example, getting to the top of search results in a certain segment, increasing the company's monthly profit.
Important current tasks are those that can be done today or postponed until a more appropriate time, but not delayed.
Daily - daily tasks that managers perform every day.
Situational - other tasks that arise in connection with certain events: organizing a corporate event, purchasing materials.
Business
Read also:
What is an attribution model and which one is right for your business
How to set tasks correctly
Effective goal setting is not a simple checklist . It consists of several components:
Proper distribution of roles;
Specification of action and result;
Assignment of responsible persons;
Term limitation;
Using tracking tools.
Distribution of roles
It is necessary to determine the roles that all team members play.
Before setting tasks, it is necessary to determine the roles that all team members play.
The ideal process for selecting a team to execute a strategic plan looks like this:
The manager’s primary task is to formulate a complete list of competencies required to implement the project.
According to competencies, the structure of the department or the entire team, the functionality and responsibilities of each participant are described.
The manager recruits specialists who are most suitable for performing the duties in the described positions.
Taking into account the competence, strengths and weaknesses of all subordinates, the manager formulates tactical and strategic tasks and appoints performers.
Unfortunately, in practice, the manager is not always empowered to select personnel and adjust the composition of the team under his supervision. Therefore, in many cases, the given plan for organizing teamwork turns out to be very limited.
However, it is necessary to make the most of all available opportunities for distributing roles in the team. First, you should start by assessing the skills of each subordinate. After that, build a structure of responsibility and communications in which the existing staff of specialists will show the greatest efficiency.
Everyone must clearly understand their role in the common cause, the limits of opportunities and responsibilities. The arrangement of players on the field will help:
Eliminate overlapping responsibilities of different employees, whereby the same work is inadvertently performed twice or three times.
Eliminate idle tasks without an executor.
Specifying the action and the result
Next, you need to package your strategy or goals for the near future into a set of specific actions that your employees can take to achieve the intended result.
The mistake managers make is that many are accustomed to using abstract formulations. For example, they set tasks in the form of a name - in the nominative case.
— Shipment of porcelain tiles.
Such formulations do not encourage action, they are associated with passive statement. At the same time, this formulation does not contain details that will help to understand how to start the task and what result to get.
— Ship 2 tons of 60x60 porcelain tiles to the warehouse in Odintsovo, call the office and sign in the register.
Here, as you can see, the process is described in much more detail. Instead of a meaningless "name" of the task, which tells the employee absolutely nothing, such a detailed formulation gives instructions for action.
This may seem elementary or unimportant, but changing nouns to verbs in the problem statement:
Much more strongly associated with action;
Helps to get your bearings and start solving the problem;
Gives motivation.
Assignment of responsible persons
The formulated task is immediately addressed to a specific performer
The formulated task is immediately addressed to a specific performer.
As has already been noted earlier, the tasks themselves largely stem from the capabilities and competencies of the team. In this regard, each task is partly assigned to pre-determined performers and immediately addressed to them.
By assigning those responsible who you believe are best suited to the task, you ensure the best possible outcome.
Having responsible people allows you to always keep the process under control. You know exactly which employee is currently working on a particular task. This allows you to request the status, make adjustments, and provide feedback at any time.
Upon completion of the work, the subordinate provides the finished materials, the quality of which is his sole responsibility. Thus, if there are any shortcomings, it is always clear to whom to direct questions and comments.
Term Limitation
Equally important are the limited time frames for completing the task.
If deadlines are not set, the performer may feel that they are unlimited, and therefore can indulge in procrastination without any problem.
To avoid confusion and downtime, deadlines should be set immediately after assigning those responsible. Even if it is impossible to accurately estimate the scope of work, an intermediate checkpoint should be set. Up until this date, the employee must do the maximum possible within the framework of the assigned task.
On the day of submitting the interim result, you and your subordinate must:
Assess the pace of work;
Discuss and resolve any issues or suggestions that arise;
Set an approximate time frame for the full completion of the task.
Task tracking
In order not only to set tasks, but also to obtain high-quality results, it is necessary to have tools that allow you to control the progress of work and all the nuances of the process.
Rather than trying to reconstruct all tasks and their aspects from memory, it is better to document this information from the start.
But not all tools improve process visibility and your productivity as a controller.
For example, a regular notebook may seem like a good solution, but in reality, you're more likely to get confused when recording the progress of work with pen and paper. Usually, tracking tasks requires much more space than a standard notebook page can provide, and constantly adjusting and adding statuses in it is not possible at all.
It is better to use electronic tools - especially since now we always have a gadget at hand, but often cannot find a pen. All software solutions have adapted mobile versions and applications, so the full set of task data is always available on a smartphone, tablet and personal computer.
Depending on the scale of the project, software of varying power may be used.
For solo performers, startups and small departments, working options include: Google Docs, Trello, Basecamp, Wunderlist, Slack.
Large projects that require serious man-hours use: JIRA, Redmine, the recently released Yandex.Tracker. In some cases , CRM is used if the problem being solved is broader than simply setting and monitoring tasks.