If you’re a fleet manager, you should be aware of the best delegation tips to improve efficiency and productivity. Effective delegation is a key managerial skill, yet many managers don’t want to lose control or don’t quite know what tasks they should be offloading.
In this article, we’re going to explain how to delegate as a manager of a fleet. We’ll discuss three tasks you can delegate to your fleet administrator, and share some general tips for effective delegation and fuel card management.
1. Arrange Fleet Service Appointments
A properly serviced and well-functioning fleet of vehicles is crucial for efficiency levels and the safety of your drivers. Logging fleet maintenance data and arranging vehicle service appointments is a task that you can delegate to your fleet administrator.
If a vehicle needs repair work or is due for a routine service, your fleet administrator can take on the role of organising these appointments. This may sound like a small task, but the time it takes to schedule appointments will add up quickly. In fact, one of our top tips for effective delegation is to pass over any small but buildable tasks.
Also, don’t forget that your fleet administrator should think tactfully about keeping as many vehicles on the road as needed.
2. Fuel Card Admin
Fuel cards offer an array of benefits; for example, many fuel cards come with useful management features.
If you’re a user of fleet cards, one of our delegation tips is to delegate aspects of fuel card management to your fleet administrator. For example, your administrator can take responsibility for ordering new fleet cards as and when new drivers are recruited. Likewise, they can deactivate cards that have been lost or stolen.
Many fuel card online management systems provide downloadable reports on driver stats, which your administrator can organise and convert to a format that works best for you.
The great news is most fuel card management features are accessible online, which means that your fleet administrator can have access to these features if they’re ever working from home.
3. Organise Driving Documentation
With any fleet, it’s important to stay on top of driving documentation. In particular, this includes driving licenses, MOT certificates and insurance certificates. With a number of different drivers and vehicles, you’ll inevitably have different insurance and MOT deadlines to keep track of. This is an important and time-consuming task that your fleet administrator should be able to keep well organised.
To get the best out of your fleet administrator, we advise establishing clear goals for every task. Dedicate enough time to explaining the tasks thoroughly and answering initial questions. A rushed and half-hearted initial explanation will probably lead to wires being crossed down the line.
Help your fleet administrator out by delegating responsibilities as soon as possible, and with reasonable deadlines. If you overload them with lengthy tasks and quick turnarounds, they’ll become stressed and feel overworked. Not only is this demotivating, but they may not be able to complete these jobs to their best ability.
Create an environment where your fleet administrator feels comfortable and capable of asking you for help when needed. Be available to provide useful resources or points of contact to help your administrator complete tasks efficiently.
Thank your administrator for their hard work and contribution to the overall team. This is one of the most important delegation tips as, without proper recognition, your fleet administrator may become demotivated and less eager to help you out in the future. Also, if you never show interest in the work you’ve delegated, they may think it’s unimportant to you.
Explaining these benefits to your fleet administrator shows you value their input and development. In turn, this should motivate them and help you foster a positive relationship.
The last of our tips for effective delegation is all about trust. Keep an open channel of communication while allowing them to work on tasks independently. Show that you trust them with these responsibilities, and avoid being overly controlling. Also, listen to their input; they may have some great ideas that you hadn’t thought of.
Understanding how to delegate as a manager is a crucial task, and we hope these tips for delegating effectively will help you with your fleet management strategy. For more fleet management tips, please explore our blog.
