DELEGATING TASKS

RUNNING EFFECTIVE MEETINGS AND

December 2012Presented by New York Campus Compact

Running Effective Meetings and Delegating Responsibilities

Running effective meetings can be a challenging task. We’ve all been to meetings where we’ve felt it was a waste of our time and energy to be there.

If you’d like to avoid “death by meeting,” the information within this presentation will help you do so.

Determine if a meeting is necessary

Sometimes we hold meetings simply because it’s something that has always been done. We’ve had a meeting every month for the past three years, and although we dislike them, they are a part of our ritual.

To determine if a meeting is absolutely necessary, ask yourself, “is the flow of information strictly one way?” If the answer is yes, you’re better off communicating via mass email to all people involved. If the information will be flowing in multiple directions, a face-to-face meeting is best.

Prepare for your meeting. This is the biggest way to ensure that meetings are effective. Consider the following:

Purpose: What is the goal?Participant: Who really needs to be there?Structure: What techniques are most useful for achieving the purpose?Location and Time: When and where will the groups needs be best met?Agenda: An organizational and participant tool!Responsibilities: Consider, “who will do what to achieve progress?”Confirmation: Ask people to help plan the agenda and RSVP.

We’ll delve deeper into these topics in the next few slides

Plan and Prepare

Purpose: Plan meetings with purpose. Define the purpose or objective of the meeting. Much of this will come about in the agenda.

Participant: Who needs to attend this meeting to accomplish the purpose? It will be crucial for certain people to be at the meetings in order for the goal to be accomplished or for the meeting to be “worthwhile.” Consider who you will invite.

Structure: How should the meeting be organized to best accomplish the purpose? Some techniques may include:guest speakers, videos, brainstorming sessions, panel sessions, discussion groups, demonstrations, etc. Whatever technique is selected, it should have the greatest impact on the participants to attain the meeting objective.

The purpose, the participants, and the structure

Location and Time: Select a meeting place that best matches the participant's needs, the objective, and the meeting structure. When planning where to meet, give consideration to size, comfort, accessibility, adequate parking, room acoustics, equipment needs, etc. Choosing a meeting time depends on the availability of participants and meeting facilities. The anticipated length of the meeting should also be a factor in deciding when to schedule the meeting.

Keep in mind the calendar for the year and the organization.Try to stick to a regular meeting pattern. If you must have monthly meetings, consider holding them on the same day and time each month. For example, a committee might meet the third Monday of the month from 5:30 to 6:30. Now, barring any national holidays falling on that day which beg a rescheduling, every committee member knows when the meeting will be held.

Location, location, location

Agenda: A meeting agenda should be prepared and distributed to participants at least three days prior to the meeting day. An agenda is crucial to meeting success in three ways: 1) it clarifies the objectives so people understand the meeting purpose

and tasks; 2) distributing the agenda prior to the meeting helps participants plan and

prepare to make an effective contribution; and3) during the meeting, the agenda provides direction and focus for the

discussion.

The agenda also sends specific messages to the group members.

The agenda!

Reject the unprepared. An agenda is distributed well in advance. This demands you think carefully about the issue and come up with thoughtful responses. This tells everyone, “We will call on you. If you are not prepared, do not attend.”

Responsibilities: There should be a mutual understanding of not only the meeting purpose, but also individual assignments and how they fit into the total program. Those meetings that are more focused on brainstorming or creativity may require little or no individual assignments. In task-oriented or policy deciding meetings, it is best to prepare a written summary of assigned duties so individuals know what their responsibility is for the meeting.

What’s that about responsibilities?

Confirmation: Planning does take a certain amount of time, however the burden of planning does not have to fall fully on the leader's shoulders. The leader is responsible for seeing that the planning gets done, not necessarily for doing it.

Reach out to members for topics for consideration. You don’t need to be the only one thinking critically about the next steps for the group.

When you send out the meeting reminder and agenda, ne sure to ask people to RSVP. You can set a threshold for meeting purposes. If you are a committee of ten and seven people aren’t able to make it to the meeting, determine if it is worthwhile for the others to still meet.

Request an RSVP and help to plan the agenda

Moderate

As the person leading the meeting, you have a specific set of responsibilities. In addition to being an active participant, you must:

• Manage Time: Begin on time and end on time. Starting a meeting late sends the message that it's okay to be late and it shows a lack of respect and appreciation for those who make the effort to arrive on time• Use the Agenda - Continually refer back to the agenda throughout the meeting to keep discussion centered on the stated purpose and specified agenda items. • Monitor participation - Make sure each individual has a fair chance of expressing ideas and opinions. Of equal importance is to ensure that quiet participants are expressing their ideas and opinions. This may require the leader or facilitator to directly call on the quiet member and ask them for their opinion or for any ideas they would like to share.

Eye Contact! According to A. Barbour, author of "Louder Than Words: Nonverbal Communication," only 7 percent of communication is what we say — the rest is all in how we say it.

As a meeting facilitator, you can use non-verbal cues not only to communicate your message but to influence the group dynamic and make all attendees feel included. When people speak during meetings, often they'll look at the facilitator. Avoid their eye contact and look at other members of the group, which will encourage the speaker to do the same.

Moderating 101

Delegate

Delegating tasks is one of the only ways you can survive being a committee leader. You simply can’t do it all, and this is where delegating comes in to keep things running.

If you need further convincing that delegating tasks is essential, look at the next few slides, and then continue on to hear learn more about the process.

Delegating has benefits for you, your committee members, and the organization you are working on behalf of. The benefits come from all angles! To start, let’s look at the benefits for you as the leader of the group.

Benefits to the leader/supervisor• Makes your job easy and exciting• Reduces stress and makes you look good.• Frees you to do what you should be doing• Develops trust and rapport with your employees• Grooms your successor so that you can move on to bigger and better things. Often managers and supervisors derail their own advancement by not having someone to take their place

The many many benefits of delegation (part 1)

To this…Go from this…

Not really, but you get the idea…

Now, let’s look at the benefits your delegating has for the group or committee members, as well as the benefits for the organization.

Benefits to the committee member • Provides professional growth opportunities• Develops their professional knowledge and skills• Elevates their self-image and ultimately self-esteem• Enhances his/her sense of involvement• Enhances their confidence and value to the organization• Brings them personal satisfaction and a sense of achievement• Gives them opportunities to be involved with decision making which in turn leads to more commitment and increased morale

Benefits for the organization • Saves money• Promotes teamwork• Brings about professionalism• Increases productivity and efficiency

The many many benefits of delegation (part 2)

In order to effectively delegate, you need to know WHEN it is appropriate to do so.Delegation is a win-win when done appropriately, however that does not mean that you can delegate just anything. To determine when delegation is most appropriate there are five questions you need to ask yourself:1. Is there someone else who the ability and information to complete the task?

Essentially is this a task that someone else can do, or is it critical that you do it yourself?

2. Does the task provide an opportunity to grow and develop another person's skills?

3. Do you have enough time to delegate the job effectively? Time must be available for adequate training, for questions and answers, for opportunities to check progress, and for rework if that is necessary.

4. Is this a task that I should delegate? Tasks critical for long-term success (for example, recruiting the right people for your team) genuinely do need your attention.

5. If you can answer "yes" to at least some of the above questions, then it could well be worth delegating this job.

Delegating Appropriately

How do we effectively delegate? Steps 1-3 of 9Delegation takes many steps. 1: Get in the right frame of mind. A big mental road block to delegation is that "If you want it done right, then do it yourself." Believe it or not, you're not the only person in the world who can do it right. They might even do it faster or better than you.

2: Stop waiting for people to volunteer. You're overwhelmed, and you wonder why people don't ever offer to help. Some people may offer help, but you turn them down. And then you wonder why they didn’t insist upon helping you out. The bottom line is that it is the rare person who offers help and insists upon it. For most people, you’ll be forced to specifically ask them to complete certain tasks.

3: Choose the right person. Assess the skills and the experience of your employees as objectively as possible. Don’t be too quick to choose the person who you always know you can depend on. Give an overview of the assignment including the importance of the assignment and why you have chosen the employee for the job.

There are a few things to take into account when considering who you will delegate responsibilities to.

1.What experience, knowledge, and skills does the individual have that will be useful in completing the delegated task. 2.What is the individual’s preferred style of work? Are they independent? Do they hope to gain something from this task, and if so, what?3.What is the individual’s current work load? Does he or she have the necessary time to devote to the task?

Step 3: Choosing the Right Person

4: Determine what aspects you are going to delegate. Take the time to plan how you are going to present the assignment, including your requirements, parameters, any check-ins, and expectations. It is a good idea to write down these items and give a copy to your delegate in order to minimize miscommunication.

5: Delegate the objective, not the procedure. This is the key to not becoming a nightmare of a micro-manager. Set clear standards for what kind of results you're looking for, and show the person how you would do it, but tell them that they can do it any way they want, as long as it's on time. And give them enough time not only to learn, but also to experiment and innovate. Don't train them like a robot; train them like a human being--someone who can adapt and improve.

6: Allocate resources necessary to complete the task. You may have resources available that are necessary to complete the task but the person given the task may not be able to access them. Be sure to share these materials. Don't forget that the person is likely time bound too.

How do we effectively delegate? Steps 4-6 of 9

7: Have confidence: The person to whom you delegate might make mistakes, or they might do just fine. What is important is that you express to them that you have confidence in their abilities, and assure them that they may reach out to you for guidance. Don't delegate a task assuming the person will fail to execute it. If you do so, you’re not setting that person up for success and you may as well just continue to do the task on your own

8: Recognize your helper when it counts. Delegating tasks to someone else is necessary if you are to take on more responsibility. It's counterproductive when you delegate the task, your helper works hard, and then you take all the credit. Recognize and praise the efforts of others on your behalf.

9: Say Thank You. When someone does something for you, it is important to say thank you, acknowledge the help and let the helper know s/he is appreciated.

How do we effectively delegate? Steps 7-9 of 9

Close the meeting cleanly

Conclude the meeting by summarizing the discussion, decisions made, tasks delegated, deadlines, and any action required by participants. Include in the summary any review plans for follow-up or the need to schedule any succeeding meetings. It is far easier to schedule the next meeting while everyone is at the table then it is to wait and contact each participant individually. If you have regular monthly meetings, use this opportunity to announce the date that you will all be together again.

Meetings can be fun and productive. It's easy to get caught up in the pressure of the meeting and lose sight of perspectives. Stress diminishes creativity and spontaneity and generally lowers the quality of results achieved by the group. So relax and remember that the best results come from groups who are able to laugh together and work together as a team.

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<http://www.unce.unr.edu/publications/files/cd/others/fs9729.pdf>

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"How to Run an Effective Meeting." Moneywatch. CBS: WBNG, Binghamton, 09 2007. Television. <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-51061211/how-to-run-an-effective-

meeting/>.

"Running Effective Meetings: Establishing an Objective and Sticking to It." Mind Tools. Mind Tools, n.d. Web. 28 Oct 2012. <http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/RunningMeetings.htm>.

"Successful Delegation: Using the Power of Other People's Help." Mind Tools. Mind Tools, n.d. Web. 28 Oct 2012. <http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_98.htm>.

Saleem, Hasan. “How to Delegate Effectively.” Leadership. Directory Journal, n.d. Web. 23 June 2007. 15 November 2012. <http://www.dirjournal.com/guides/how-to-delegate-effectively/>

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