One part of excelling as an event manager is handling your team well and bringing out the best in every team member. It takes patience, commendable communication skills, interpersonal skills, knowledge of the field, and experience to manage a team. Task delegation is the most critical aspect of team handling. Most managers need to catch up in this aspect. 

Every event manager is looking for the answer to how to delegate tasks effectively. Asana defines delegation as reassigning work to other team members because it’s more relevant to their workstreams and priorities. However, not all managers successfully delegate their tasks to their teams. Some of them find it hard to trust their team members with essential tasks, while others are not good at training, mentoring,  and getting their team to do the necessary work. In this article, we will explore ways for event managers to ace their game regarding task delegation.

Why Should Managers Delegate Tasks?

Task delegation is an easily achievable goal. However, many event managers need help allocating work to their team members and choose to bear the burden of most of the work alone. This is a failing strategy, as they are bound to get burned out at some point, eventually leading to a loss in productivity. Moreover, a lack of delegation will not help other team members grow professionally, leading to workplace discontent. So, why should managers delegate tasks? Let’s find out.

1. To Prevent Burnout

As an event manager, you should look after the big picture and get others to do their jobs well. You are not supposed to shoulder their responsibilities because you lack trust in them. When you go overboard and micromanage a team, no one gains anything from it. You may feel satisfied doing the job the way you want, but this would leave other team members feeling useless as they question their worth in the organization. Additionally, doing all the tasks alone will leave you feeling stressed and overworked, which is not a sustainable way of working.

2. To Save Time and Get More Work Done in Less Time 

In event management, time is significant, as one organization handles multiple events simultaneously. This means teams have to focus on achieving efficiency in time and effort. Managing the volatile expectations of sponsors and clients can be exhausting, so getting other tasks done on time and with maximum efficiency is extremely important. This will enable you to achieve productivity while maneuvering the various event management challenges.

3. To Focus on Strategic Priorities

Every event is planned with specific goals in mind. As the event manager, you are responsible for catering to the client’s strategic needs and planning the event per their requirements. 

For example, suppose a fintech company is organizing a conference for tech professionals and industry stalwarts to create brand awareness about their latest innovations while getting experts to discourse on relevant topics. In that case, you must meet the client’s strategic requirements. You will have to create an engaging event and align the client’s business goals while giving attendees the high experiential value of the event.

4. To Empower and Train Other Team Members

Being a team lead or an event manager allows you to mold your team members to evolve and learn the ropes of the game. When you train and entrust them with roles and responsibilities, they get to hone their skills, allowing them to help you with your tasks in the future. It’s a win-win for both parties as they get to be competent with your help, and you get to delegate tasks to them while they bring out the best in the team.

5. To Build Trust Within the Team

Delegating work also helps build trust within the team, which is essential for a healthy working atmosphere. In a discussion, Stephanie Pennell, Head of Events at ZoomInfo, shared valuable insights. She said, “ I can delegate a task knowing my team will get it done and be open to feedback. This trust is mutual. They trust I’ll represent them well when they take their work to the executive level.

In an event organization, it is impossible to function without proper task delegation. While discussing this, Dilyara Kazymbetova, Event Director at Apple Events Group, said, ‘’It is important to have a team lead in any event project which has a clear vision of what the event should look like and takes responsibility for this vision. She added that this would help the team lead to see which team member or supplier can do best from the project and accordingly plan and delegate these tasks to them. Delegation becomes an inevitable part of event management when the event company is growing, and the pipeline of projects is increasing.” 

How to Delegate Tasks Effectively

Here are a few ways to delegate tasks effectively:

1. Communicate Clearly

As an event manager,  you are in a position of authority, and communicating well is a mandate. When so many people depend on your input, you ought to be crisp, clear, and lucid in communicating. Quite often, miscommunication leads to time wastage and unwarranted stress. 

Another aspect of communicating is how you deliver a message. According to Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, you delegate results rather than methods. This means you must communicate the goal, the milestones you hope to achieve, and the possible ways your team can reach them. The aim is to show them the path while empowering them to achieve their goals.

2. Choose the Right Person for the Job Based on their Strengths

Now, as an event manager, you can choose the right person or create one depending on your resources. If your team comprises experienced people, you can select the right person for a particular task based on his previous experience and expertise. If it’s a team of people who are relatively new to the job, then knowing their strengths and weaknesses can help you decide to delegate tasks to them.

3. Provide Training and Mentorship if Required

As mentioned earlier, your team would often comprise people who are new to the job and will need consistent training and mentorship to get them to be productive and valuable to the team. Task delegation is not simply allocating a task to a team member but also providing them with the tools and skills they need to perform their best. 

Dilyara Kazymbetova, the Event Director at Apple Events, says, “I give them a detailed roadmap or instruction/checklist of how I used to do this task. In this case, inexperienced team members followed this instruction, and then I asked for feedback on what was easy and difficult, and we discussed the development plan. This helps an inexperienced team member feel comfortable and safe in gaining his or her own experience and not be afraid of doing and learning new things.”

4. Leave Room for Failure and Be Patient

Perfection is a myth. The point here is that as a manager, you ought to know when to be tough and understand your team members. Everyone is on a different level in terms of learning.

For example, if your event conceptualizer fails to impress the client with his event themes and mood boards, it may not be his fault, as client preferences are usually hard to crack. As a team manager, you must encourage and motivate your designer not to crumble under pressure and help him identify the expectation gap to produce better outcomes. Be patient with your team and allow them to learn and grow under you.

5. Delegate Responsibility and Authority

“Managers who fail to delegate responsibility in addition to specific tasks eventually find themselves reporting to their subordinates and doing some work, rather than vice versa,” writes Martin Zwilling, founder and CEO of Startup Professionals. So, make sure to delegate responsibilities and authority to competent team members. You want to empower your team to make decisions independently and handle crises even if you are not at the event venue. 

Discussing task delegation, Dilyara said, “The skill lies in the ability to see the individual talent of each team member and not be afraid to give the employee opportunities for their manifestation. To do this, the top manager must be responsible for the entire process or project, thus creating a safe environment for employees to express their talents. At the same time, it may turn out that an employee may be only at the initial stage of discovering his or her talent, so to speak, being an insecure user of it. Again, the top manager must be aware of the risks and, in a sense, to back up the employee.”  Hence, delegating responsibility and authority is of great importance.

6. Provide the Right Instructions/Feedback

Stephanie mentions the importance of providing feedback to team members when she says, “Leaders should show up consistently, listen actively, and provide constructive feedback.” Only when you communicate your requirements can you provide substantial feedback for the work done, and then can team members deliver their best. As a team lead, you have worked on multiple projects, and your expertise and feedback will act as a catalyst for your team, which aspires to lead its own event teams in the future.

7. Appreciate the Wins, Not Just Point Out the Mistakes

A crucial part of managing a team is appreciating your team’s most minor wins. Task delegation is just one part of the job. To ensure you bring out the best in your team, you have to nurture and guide them so that they feel comfortable being their most authentic and best selves.

For example, when your team gets the right venue for the event or does an excellent job gathering post-event data, you can take them out for lunch and celebrate with them. This will keep everyone’s spirits elevated, even under deadlines and multiple event line-ups.

Key Takeaway

To be a competent event manager and team leader, you must relinquish the urge to micromanage and perform essential tasks independently. You have the power to build trust within your team and delegate tasks to ensure maximum productivity and efficiency. 

So, be unnerved when sharing responsibilities and delegating tasks, as it will only help you and your organization grow. If you are new to delegation, give yourself time as you learn how to delegate tasks effectively.