Task-Oriented Leadership: Strategies, Key Skills, & Tips
Task Leadership to the Rescue: Switching to a task-oriented leadership style can help you achieve better results by focusing on specific tasks and objectives and aligning team performance with project goals.
Big Results from Style Adjustments: If your current leadership approach isn't delivering, consider adjusting your style. Changing how you guide and interact with your team can significantly impact their productivity and effectiveness.
Navigating Leadership Choices: The right leadership style is crucial for project success. Assess different approaches to understand which one best suits your team's needs and project requirements.
Picking the right leadership style as a project manager can be overwhelming. If you aren’t getting the results you’re expecting from your team, it could be that your leadership style just isn’t working. One remedy might be to change styles to task-oriented leadership.
In this article, I’ll explore what task-oriented leadership is and offer some recommendations on how you can adopt it for your projects.
What Is Task-Oriented Leadership?
Task-oriented leadership is a leadership style that focuses primarily on the tasks that need to be completed to achieve specific goals. If you’re a task-oriented leader, you’re laser-focused on productivity, deadlines, processes, and efficiency.
The priority is getting the job done on time and to the specifications. It’s ideal if you’re facing tight timelines or pressure from stakeholders to provide value that meets high expectations and achieves goals.
Task-Oriented Leadership vs People-Oriented Leadership
The main difference between task-oriented leadership and people-oriented leadership is that people-oriented leadership emphasizes employee well-being, motivation, and interpersonal relationships, while task-oriented leadership emphasizes outcomes and deadlines.
While both management styles have their strengths, task-oriented leadership excels in scenarios that demand clarity, structure, and quick execution.
Task-Oriented Leadership Strategies
Here are some strategies you can use to be more task-oriented as a leader:
1. Set Clear Goals and Expectations
Define exactly what needs to be achieved, by whom, and by when. Establish specific, measurable, and time-bound objectives. For example, rather than saying, “We need to improve customer satisfaction,” you would specify, “Our team must increase our customer satisfaction score by 10% within the next quarter.”
This clarity helps every team member understand their target and align their daily work toward achieving it.
2. Develop Detailed Action Plans
Map out the steps required to achieve each goal and consider the required timelines, resources, and responsible individuals. Break complex projects into manageable tasks, set milestones, and sequence activities logically.
For instance, in launching a new product, you as the project team leader might create a Gantt chart with phases for prototype development, user testing, and marketing rollout, each with assigned owners and deadlines. This level of detail keeps the team focused and aligned.
3. Prioritize Tasks Ruthlessly
Identify and focus your and the team’s energy on the most critical tasks that drive the majority of project value. Use principles like the Pareto Principle (80/20 Rule) to make sure the team spends time on the activities that matter most.
For example, during a website redesign, instead of getting bogged down tweaking button colors, you would prioritize building core functionality that directly impacts the customer experience, like the checkout system or navigation menus.
4. Assign Clear Ownership
Make each team member explicitly responsible for specific tasks or deliverables. You’ll assign tasks directly—one owner per task—to eliminate confusion.
For instance, rather than saying, “The marketing materials need to get done,” you would specify, “Emily will write the campaign emails by Friday.” Clear ownership fosters accountability and empowers team members to take initiative.
5. Track Progress Through Metrics
Use quantifiable measures to monitor task completion and overall project health. Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) specific to the type of project you’re working on, like number of bugs fixed, pages published, or leads generated.
For example, during a sales campaign, you might track the number of client calls made, proposals sent, and deals closed per day, and then use that information to adjust the team’s strategies as needed.
6. Provide Immediate, Constructive Feedback
Address successes and problems as they arise, not after the project ends. Timely feedback helps you make sure mistakes are corrected quickly and reinforces good practices and accountability.
For example, if a developer delivers a flawed module, you would immediately meet with them, point out the gaps against the requirements, and collaboratively plan improvements, instead of waiting for a post-mortem weeks later.
Benefits of Task Oriented Leadership
Task-oriented leadership offers several distinct benefits.
- Improved task clarity and efficiency: Task-oriented leadership provides clear direction and structure. You’ll emphasize the importance of defining tasks, setting deadlines, and making sure everyone understands their responsibilities. This reduces ambiguity, helps team members focus on the most critical aspects of their work, and maintains project momentum.
- Increased accountability and ownership: Task-oriented leaders hold team members accountable for their assigned tasks. By setting clear expectations and monitoring progress, you encourage ownership of responsibilities, which can improve individual and team performance. Accountability also helps reduce delays or miscommunications that can have cascading effects on the project's success.
- Increased focus on results and goal achievement: Task-oriented leaders prioritize results and make sure team members stay focused on the task at hand and work toward achieving specific goals. This results-driven approach helps you meet deadlines, stay within budget, and deliver quality work.
- Increased productivity: By breaking large tasks into smaller, manageable ones, you can create a roadmap for teams to follow. This can significantly boost productivity and reduce procrastination and confusion. When tasks are completed successfully and goals are met, it helps the team move forward and achieve objectives.
- Effective time and resource management: Task-oriented leaders are typically skilled in managing time effectively by setting deadlines, delegating tasks appropriately, and maintaining optimal resource management. By focusing on task completion, you avoid unnecessary delays.
- Risk mitigation: By focusing on clearly defined tasks, task-oriented leaders help identify potential risks early in the project. You’ll use risk management tools like Gantt charts or project management software to monitor project progress and identify bottlenecks that may delay task completion. By identifying risks early, you can take corrective action to minimize or eliminate potential issues.
Drawbacks of Task-Oriented Leadership
There are several drawbacks to task-oriented leadership—this leadership style (as opposed to a management style) focuses primarily on task completion and the achievement of measurable objectives, often at the expense of team dynamics, personal development, and long-term strategic goals.
- Limited focus on team morale and engagement: Task-oriented leadership has a narrow focus on task completion instead of team morale, engagement, and team member motivation. It’s less democratic and more autocratic. You’ll be more concerned with achieving deadlines and milestones than with making sure team members are motivated and supported. This can lead to burnout and dissatisfaction within the team if they feel that their personal growth and well-being are being overlooked.
- Risk of micromanagement: Task-oriented leadership can lean towards micromanaging team members, and you as the project leader or project manager will be highly focused on making sure tasks are completed correctly and on time. This can stifle creativity, reduce autonomy, and create an environment of mistrust. Team members might feel like they aren’t trusted to manage their own tasks, which can cause frustration and a decrease in productivity.
- Lack of flexibility in adapting to change: Task-oriented leaders typically focus on predefined processes and goals. While this can be effective in stable environments, it can pose challenges in dynamic, fast-paced situations where flexibility is key. Changes in scope, project requirements, or market conditions may require quick adjustments, but you might find it difficult to pivot quickly due to a rigid focus on the original plan and tasks.
- Decreased innovation and creativity: Because you’ll prioritize task completion over creative problem-solving, you might inadvertently suppress innovation within your team. By putting the emphasis solely on getting the job done, you might discourage team members from offering new ideas or exploring creative solutions to problems. This could be particularly detrimental in fields that rely on innovation and out-of-the-box thinking, such as product development, digital project management, or marketing.
- Potential for overwork and burnout: Your emphasis on completing tasks within set deadlines may create a high-pressure environment, especially when there are many overlapping tasks and competing priorities. This can lead to overwork and burnout among team members, especially if they feel like you aren’t considering their workload or limitations. If left unchecked, it could also lead to retention issues. This is not ideal for the company culture and developing positive relationships within the organization.
Key Skills For Task-Oriented Leaders
Here are the key management skills that task-oriented leaders need and how they can be applied.
1. Time Management
Time management is the ability to organize and plan how you’ll divide your time between various tasks to make sure work is completed efficiently and on schedule. This skill also helps you allocate time to different project phases and make sure team members remain focused on their assignments.
If you’re working on a product launch, say, you will create a detailed timeline and break down the entire project into phases, such as design, production, and marketing, with clear deadlines for each. The ability to stick to this timeline makes sure the project moves forward without delays so you can deliver it on time.
Effective time management also involves prioritizing tasks based on urgency and importance. You might decide that a critical bug fix for a software project must take priority over less pressing design changes.
2. Delegation
Delegation is the ability to assign tasks to the appropriate team members based on their skills, expertise, and capacity. You must be skilled at delegation to make sure the right people are assigned to the right tasks. This involves understanding the strengths and weaknesses of each team member and then assigning them work that lines up with them.
For example, you might assign a technical aspect of a software project to a developer with a strong coding background, and assign more creative tasks, like designing user interfaces, to a team member with a design background.
Effective delegation lets you manage multiple tasks without overwhelming your team, and it also encourages ownership. Team members will feel responsible for completing their assigned tasks, and it creates an environment where everyone can contribute according to their strengths.
3. Goal Setting
Goal setting is the process of defining clear, measurable objectives that the team is expected to achieve within a specific timeframe. You’ll set SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) and clearly outline expectations to provide teams with a sense of direction.
For example, in a marketing project, you might set a goal of increasing website traffic by 20% within six months. This gives the team a clear target to work towards and lets them focus on strategies that will contribute to that objective.
Setting goals also helps track progress and keep everyone accountable. By measuring success based on predefined goals, you can adjust strategies or allocate resources to keep the project on track if the team falls behind.
4. Problem Solving
Problem-solving is the ability to identify issues or obstacles that may impede progress and develop effective solutions to address them.
It’s particularly critical when you’re managing complex projects with multiple moving parts. Problems like resource shortages, delays, or technical issues can arise unexpectedly. You must be able to quickly identify the problem, analyze its impact, and implement solutions to keep the project moving forward.
For instance, if your construction project faces a delay due to unforeseen weather conditions, you might adjust the schedule by reallocating resources or prioritizing indoor tasks so the project remains on schedule. You’ll need to have a solutions-first mindset that helps you overcome challenges and prevent them from derailing overall progress.
5. Communication Skills
Communication skills refer to the ability to convey information clearly, efficiently, and effectively to individuals and teams.
You’ll need to regularly check in with team members, provide instructions, and convey updates on progress. Clear communication makes sure everyone understands their responsibilities and the tasks that need to be accomplished. As part of this, you might hold daily stand-up meetings or send detailed status reports to keep everyone aligned.
Additionally, you must be adept at providing feedback. If a team member is not meeting expectations, you need to be able to provide constructive feedback that helps the individual improve without demotivating them. Communication is key to maintaining clarity, reducing misunderstandings, and keeping projects on track.
6. Decision-Making
Decision-making is the ability to assess the available options and make informed choices quickly and effectively to drive the project forward. You’ll be required to make quick, decisive choices on everything from resource allocation to resolving conflicts and choosing the best strategy for completing a task in order to keep the project moving forward.
For example, in a software development project, if the team encounters a choice between two competing tools, you must evaluate both options and make a decision that aligns with the project’s goals and deadlines.
Effective decision-making also involves weighing the risks and benefits of each option. In high-pressure situations, such as meeting tight deadlines, you must be able to act decisively and trust your judgment.
7. Monitoring and Evaluating Progress
Monitoring and evaluating progress involves tracking the completion of tasks, measuring outcomes against set goals, and making adjustments when necessary.
You’ll continuously monitor the progress of the project to make sure tasks are completed on time and within scope. This involves using tools like project management software, Gantt charts, and progress reports to track tasks and milestones. Monitoring progress helps you identify potential delays, resource constraints, or quality issues early on, so you can address them before they become significant problems.
For instance, in a product development project, you might review the team’s progress regularly to assess whether the product design meets the required standards. If any deviations are identified, you can make adjustments to bring the project back on track and meet the deadline and goals.
Best Practices for Task-Oriented Leaders
Here are some best practices you can use as a task-oriented leader to maximize success and efficiency.
- Break down large tasks into manageable chunks: Break down major projects into smaller, manageable tasks to prevent burnout and make progress easier to track. Use a work breakdown structure (WBS) to separate complex tasks or projects into smaller, actionable units. This lets you assign specific responsibilities to team members and provide clarity regarding what needs to be done. With well-defined sub-tasks, team members can focus on one at a time and maintain a steady pace toward the larger goal.
- Set clear, SMART goals: Set clear goals to make sure everyone has a shared understanding of what needs to be accomplished. The SMART framework is an excellent approach for defining these goals—it helps make sure objectives are clear, measurable, and achievable, and that you can align the team’s efforts with the broader organizational mission.
- Use project management tools: Project management tools can significantly improve organization, coordination, and task tracking. Invest in tools like Asana, Trello, or monday.com, which let you assign tasks, set deadlines, track progress, and maintain clear communication with the team. Regularly update your tools with current project statuses to keep everyone aligned.
- Monitor progress and provide regular feedback: Regular progress checks let you evaluate how well the team is performing and address any issues before they become significant problems. Hold regular check-in meetings, such as weekly stand-ups or bi-weekly reviews, where each team member reports on their progress. This lets you quickly identify potential issues and offer guidance where needed. Providing positive and constructive feedback helps maintain motivation and fosters a growth mindset.
- Delegate to empower your team: You might feel the need to oversee every aspect of the project, but effective delegation helps maximize efficiency and empower team members. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team and delegate tasks accordingly. You should trust your team members to take ownership of certain responsibilities. Effective delegation frees up your time to focus on other aspects of the project, while also building trust and accountability within the team.
- Anticipate and address roadblocks early: Anticipate potential obstacles and be proactive in addressing them to make sure projects continue on track. During the planning phase, conduct a risk assessment to identify potential challenges, such as resource constraints, delays, or external factors, that could derail the project. Develop contingency plans and assign responsibility for monitoring these risks.
- Don’t sacrifice team well-being: Even though you’re focused on results, make sure the team remains motivated and engaged throughout the project. Foster a results-driven culture by setting clear expectations but also prioritize work-life balance, recognize achievements, and maintain open communication. Acknowledging accomplishments boosts morale and reinforces positive behaviors.
- Be flexible and adaptable: While task-oriented leaders thrive on structure and efficiency, projects rarely go as planned. Be flexible and adaptable in the face of change. Be open to revising timelines, task priorities, and resource allocation as project needs evolve. If you can adapt to unforeseen circumstances, you’ll be better equipped to manage changes without sacrificing the quality or timeliness of the project.
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