Tracking Delegated Tasks by Meggin McIntosh, PhD

Once you’ve delegated a task it is still your responsibility to track its progression and its completion. What are effective ways of doing this?  The following are 10 possibilities…you don’t need to do them all.  Just choose one or two that will work for you.

1. When you are delegating, write in your planner when you will check and when the project is due.
2. Write deadlines for projects you’ve delegated on a large wall calendar in a certain color marker.
3. If you send tasks to someone via email, be sure to use the subject line with “Task” at the front and then save all these tasks to a folder you check regularly.
4. When emailing, include the deadline of the task in the subject line.
5. Be deliberate and clear about deadlines up front and don’t change your mind.
6. If the task you are delegating requires the work of several people, set up a group in your email and send updates to the entire group.
7. Tell the person to whom you are delegating when you will check back. Write it in your planner (or enter it in your smartphone) as you are talking with the person and encourage that person to do the same. Then, be prompt.
8. Don’t nag the person to whom you are delegating before the agreed upon “check back” time.
9. If the project is not completed by the deadline, problem-solve with the person to whom you’ve delegated so it doesn’t happen again.
10. Thank the person who completed the task. Good manners, respect, and acknowledgement are always in order.

Tracking those tasks you have delegated helps you and the “delegatee” feel more confident. Find one or two (or more) of these ideas that will work for you and your style and implement the idea(s) right away.

Remember that early on in the Top Ten Productivity Tips series, I encouraged you to do what only you can do. Delegation helps that become reality. To learn the specifics of delegation, sign up for the 2-part teleseminar “Deputize…Then Delegate.” All of us have the option to deputize others to handle tasks, projects, and appearances in our stead. What some of us don’t have is a clear sense of who, what, when, where, why, and how to delegate.