The Importance of Task Allocation
Before a sports team goes out to play a game, a large amount of time is spent deciding which player will play a particular position. The position that a player is placed in will often be dependent on their level of skill. It will also be dependent on the estimated performance of the opposite team.
It is the leader who is responsible for picking the right players to play in a certain position, and this is called task allocation. Task allocation is just as important in business as it is in sports. Learning how to put the right people in the right position will mean the difference between success and failure.
It is crucial that a leader picks people for positions based on their skills and experience. Before a leader can put the right people in the best positions, they will first need to understand the battle that they are engaged in, and they must know what skills will be necessary to win it. If a leader doesn’t understand the battle that they are in, it will be impossible for them to know which person to choose for a specific task. In addition to this, a good leader will want to learn as much as they can about their opponents. It will be impossible to win a battle when you don’t know who you’re up against.
Once you understand the game and the opposition, you will next need to begin putting your subordinates in positions that allow them to maximize their natural gifts. While this may sound like common sense, it is a common mistake which is made by many leaders, and it almost always leads to failure. You will first want to start by creating a goal for your team, and you will then want to begin giving tasks to team members who are able to help you achieve this goal. You will want to write down all the necessary tasks before you begin assigning them to your team members. Each task should be listed based on its level of importance.
After you have wrote down and ranked each task, you will next want to write down the skills that are necessary to fulfill each task. After you have this information written down, you will next want to begin listing the skills of each member of your team. Compare the skills of the members to the skills that are necessary to complete a specific task. Team members who have skills which match up to a particular task should be placed in that position. This is the basic method for task allocation, and it may have a few missing pieces if it is being used in a real world situation.
To deal with these missing pieces, you have one of two options. You can either choose to place qualified people in places where they can perform important tasks, or you can give a task to somone who is at a lower level. Both approaches can be good for specific situations. The person that is qualified is reliable and is likely to do an excellent job, while the person who is lower will can do it quickly for a much lower cost. If you find large gaps in the skill level of your group, you will need to either hire new members or train your existing members. The path that you choose can have a number of advantages and disadvantages.
Training your existing members is cheaper and faster. Hiring a new member involves a bit of risk, because you don’t know if they can be trusted, and they may not have the practical experience to succeed. You will also have to deal with payment and other issues. You will often find that it is best to simply train existing members that you are familiar with. They will often have natural skills that you will want to harness. Once they’ve gained the necessary skills, they can be placed in a position which allows them to work at a higher level. Hiring new people takes a long time, and they may use deception to make it appear they have skills which they lack, and you may not figure this out until you have hired them.
