If you’ve ever wanted a team that’s available 24/7 and never complains then it’s time you try LLMs like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Focus your time on tasks that are important, require your unique skills, and energize you. Delegate other tasks to AI. To delegate effectively:
Understand capabilities: Assign the right task to the right tool.
Provide context: Explain the background and importance of the task.
Describe the task and desired outcome: Be specific about what you need.
Set expectations and guardrails: Define clear boundaries and criteria for success.
Retain responsibility: Always check the work, provide feedback and be on the lookout for hallucination.
First-time managers often struggle because they are used to doing the job themselves. While you might complete some tasks faster than asking AI, delegating to AI is a skill you’ll improve over time. The best part? You can reuse your most effective prompts repeatedly.
How AI Can Help You
AI can take on a variety of tasks, freeing you up to focus on high-impact work. Here are some ways AI can support your team:
Researcher
Tasks: Summarizes extensive literature, forecasts trends from historical data.
Tools: Perplexity (great for answering questions and getting to original sources), Scite and Research Rabbit
Sample Prompt: “Summarize the latest research on sustainable design practices and provide key trends from the last five years.
Analyst
Tasks: Processes and analyzes data, creates easy-to-understand data visualizations, automates routine analytical tasks, quickly identifies patterns in large datasets.
Sample Prompt: “Analyze this sales data from the past quarter and create a visualization showing the main trends.”
Strategist
Assistant
Writer and Editor
Tasks: Drafts and customizes content, offers grammar and style suggestions, adapts content to audience preferences.
Tools: Claude, ChatGPT (note: ChatGPT tends to be wordy).
Sample Prompt: “Draft a blog post about our new product launch, focusing on its unique features and benefits.”
Coach
Tasks: Adapts learning to individual styles, monitors learner progress, provides simulations for skill practice.
Tools: ELSA (English Language)
Sample Prompt: “Create a personalized learning plan for an employee wanting to improve their public speaking skills.”
Creator
Tasks: Creates images for marketing material.
Tools: MidJourney, DALL-E.
Sample Prompt: “Generate a series of images for our summer marketing campaign that highlights our new product range.”
You could even make your own work friend. ChatGPT’s new model can be kinda flirty, or you could replicate Kevin Roose’s experiment with Kindroid and Nomi from the Hard Fork podcast and The New York Times. Can’t say I’ve tried this one myself, as I’m in an office enough that I don’t get lonely.
By understanding the capabilities of each AI tool and using clear, detailed prompts, you can effectively delegate tasks and enhance your productivity. Remember, the responsibility stays with you, so always check the work and provide feedback.
Image: An early fluid art experiment