If you’re managing a construction project, delegation is going to be key to your success. At the end of the day, it’s your role to ensure that everyone knows what they are doing. This includes knowing who’s meant to be doing what, when the work needs to be completed and any other necessary information that will ensure the project is completed to perfection. However, so many project managers tend to shy away from delegation. Instead of putting trust in their team, they’ll try to take on the bulk of the work themselves and oversee as much as possible directly. THis is senseless. If you weren’t sure that the team you are using is capable of doing the work to a good standard, you wouldn’t have hired them in the first place. For success to ensue, it’s absolutely essential that you take a step back, pass the right projects on to the right people and trust them to meet your requirements and expectations! At the end of the day, one person or team focusing on one or two specific tasks will prove a lot more effective and efficient than one person pandering over everything. Here are a few different steps that you can take to delegate jobs properly for the best results!
1. Know your team
First and foremost you must know your team and exactly what each individual member plays. This can be in-house team members, agencies or third party services. It could be architects, plumbers, plasterers, electricians, bricklayers or anyone else. If you need work to be carried out by anyone you need to know what they can provide and determine whether they’re the right fit for what you need. This will allow you to delegate tasks to the right people.
2. Set realistic deadlines
If you’re going to delegate tasks, you need to account for sufficient time for the task to be done properly and to a good standard. Placing unrealistic deadlines on people will just lead to rushed and shoddy work, which will reflect badly on you. Make sure that tasks are delegated to individuals who do not have any other commitments that could impact the deadline being met – for example, other projects that you may have delegated to them alongside this new project.
3. Provide in-depth information
When briefing people on what you’re expecting of them, it’s better to be overly informative and detailed than to give a vague or wishy washy brief. If specific needs or points are important, place emphasis on them.
4. Be available for questions or clarification
Sure, you should avoid overly interfering once tasks have been delegated. But you should still make sure that you’re available to answer any questions or provide any clarification. It’s much better to give precise answers to any doubts or queries than to leave people to guess for themselves – potentially making the wrong choice.
As you can see, delegation really is essential if you’re going to manage any construction projects properly. The four steps outlined above should help the process to go as smoothly as possible!
