It’s a lot easier to delegate at work than at home – for one thing, in the workplace, everybody has a job description, so that might be the place to start!

Writing a simple job description for everybody in the house can be fun and informative – what can the youngest family member do: plump up the cushions? Be responsible for handing the remote to Dad? Line up the shoes in the hall? Even small and unimportant tasks teach children how to follow instructions and give them a sense of responsibility.

In one household there are rotating jobs: one week Mum loads the dishwasher, next week Dad, third week the oldest child, fourth week the youngest. Many other tasks are passed around too, which is a good idea as it stops people getting fed up with doing the same chore. In this family there are also specific clothes for each job – the dishwasher person has a special apron, the person in charge of sorting out the recycling has a big specially printed T-shirt with RECYLER printed on it, and sturdy garden gloves to keep their hands clean and so on – this gives a value to each job and reminds people that everybody contributes to running the household.

Just as everybody in a house produces  dirty dishes, dirty clothe and mess, so, in the workplace, everybody contributes to the need for housekeeping and cleaning. Making sure that every week one member of the team is responsible for washing cups and buying milk, or sorting out scrap paper so that it can be re-used on the blank side, is also good for morale as it lets employees know that you value the environment at large and their working conditions in particular.

Working together can also be important. For a family this can be one hour at the weekend before anybody is allowed to leave the house, when the lawn is mowed, shoes are polished, bills are paid etc. In the workplace this can be a great way to improve your surroundings. What about asking the team to give up one lunchtime a week to work on a community project such as planting a flowerbed or window boxes, or even growing salad vegetables in the office – you can also clean the pavement outside your building etc. Sounds a bit goody goody perhaps, but nearly everybody who does community work says they feel happier afterwards! You need to ensure proper clothing is worn for this kind of task though: overalls or sturdy jeans and specially provided T-shirts or other casual wear that can get grimy and be washed easily.

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