In a world where convenience is king, digital tools have revolutionized the art of delegation. Gone are the days when assigning a task meant a physical handoff – imagine walking stacks of papers from desk to desk or navigating a labyrinth of cubicles to ensure your team knows what’s on their plate. Today, a few clicks or taps are all it takes to seamlessly delegate responsibilities.
This evolution in task allocation is particularly significant in our new normal, where remote work isn’t just a trend, but a widespread reality. When your team is dispersed across different locations, sometimes even time zones, having a reliable project or task management tool is essential. It is the anchor that keeps everything going smoothly, ensuring that everyone, from managers to team members, is aligned and clear on their responsibilities.
In this article, we’ll explore five standout apps designed to make delegating tasks not just simpler, but almost effortless.
5 Apps You Can Use to Delegate Work
1. Basecamp
Basecamp is not just another app on our list; it’s the engine that drives our own operations at LifeHack. With a team that is as distributed as ours, working in different time zones, Basecamp is a necessity for us. It functions as a central hub where tasks are assigned, discussed, tracked, and marked as completed.
For delegating tasks, its to-do lists are a godsend. Assign a task, set a due date, attach files, and add details in one centralized space.
The perk of Basecamp? Clarity. Everyone knows what they should be working on and when it’s due.
For the best results, I recommend setting up dedicated project spaces for each initiative, so team members have a clear and focused area where they can collaborate and track progress.
2. Asana
Asana excels at breaking down projects into tasks and subtasks, allowing you to assign these to individual team members with due dates and priority levels. Delegating becomes a visually intuitive process.
Asana turns your projects into a series of actionable steps, each with a clear owner. The standout feature of Asana? Its timeline view, which offers a visual, interactive chart of your team’s work, highlighting who is doing what by when.
To use Asana to its full potential, regularly update task progress and use its integration features to connect it with your other essential work tools.
3. Trello
Trello takes a more visual approach, leveraging a board and card system that is both simple and powerful. It’s like having a digital whiteboard where tasks move from one column (say, ‘To Do’) to the next (‘In Progress’, and then ‘Completed’). This dynamic flow makes delegating tasks as simple as dragging a card to a team member’s column.
The perk? Flexibility. Trello’s system is adaptable, fitting projects of any size and nature.
To get the most out of Trello, explore its array of ‘Power-Ups’—add-ons that bring extra functionality like calendar syncing, automation, and integrations with other tools.
4. Todoist
Todoist brings simplicity back into focus. It’s designed around lists, and it’s fantastic at that.
You can delegate tasks by simply sharing your project with a team member and assigning tasks to them. Todoist helps by sending reminders, due dates, and priority flags to keep everyone on track.
The perk of Todoist is its portability; it’s designed to work seamlessly across all your devices.
For best use, make daily check-ins a habit, and explore its natural language processing feature for quick and easy task input.
5. Notion
Notion is much more than a task delegator—it’s a relational database that looks like a spreadsheet but acts like a database. With Notion, you can assign tasks to team members within a highly customizable grid, where each row is a task and columns hold all the necessary details.
Why is it a winner for delegation? It’s the ultimate tool for those who think visually and want detailed tracking options. The perk of Notion is its ability to link related content, enabling you to see the bigger picture of your projects at a glance.
To unlock Notion’s full potential, spend some time customizing your views and tables to perfectly match your project’s unique needs.
Final Thoughts
Delegation is more than just a managerial duty—it’s an essential art, especially in our digital, remote-centric era. Properly delegated tasks empower team members, turning overwhelming lists into manageable actions. And in this world, the apps I’ve introduced are not just handy; they’re game changers. Each offers unique tools to simplify and improve the delegation process.
So, test these apps out and choose the one that fits your needs most. They’re designed to transform the way you lead, streamlining delegation and boosting productivity. Dive in, explore their features, and find your path to easier and more efficient leadership.
