Be specific!

Be specific! BE BE Specific!

I recently attended a meeting where to managers were very vague in what the task for the day was. The meeting went something like this.

Manager: Ok, everyone get the list of task that need done, right? So lets make sure we get it all done. Oh yea, and we have to also do xyz.

My pet peeve is when managers don't or won't delegate accordingly. So here are a few tips for assigning task to your direct reports.

1. Know the task: If you don't fully understand everything that needs to be done then how can you expect to lead your team in doing the task. If that means coming in thirty min early to get yourself together and do some planning then so be it.
2. Delegate: If you've been the leader/manager for at least 6 month you should have a decent understanding of everyone's strengths and weaknesses. Use that knowledge to assign task accordingly.
3. Be SPECIFIC! : Your task list says "set up for board presentation". Well what exactly do you need to be "set up"? Need a power point presentation? Someone need to put together an agenda for the day? Need to make sure lunch is ordered? Need to arrange for transportation?

I'm sure this is nothing new to many of you here. But thank you for letting me vent.