assign task meaning

How to Give Assignments to Team Members

Table of Contents

The project has been divided into milestones, goals and objectives broken into tasks, and now it’s time to assign them. But as you open the project management platform, you’re faced with the unflattering process of wording the tasks, and choosing whom to assign them to.

Well, in this article, we offer advice on how to make that jumbled first moment a little clearer. There are actionable tips, learning the difference between allocating and delegating tasks, and suggested criteria on how to choose the best person for the job.

For a more precise overview, here’s a table of contents:

How do you assign employees tasks?

We normally think that assigning tasks is a time-consuming process that focuses on clearing out task lists to keep the project going. However, task assignment should actually be a more employee-oriented process that requires additional dedication and effort, which yields incredible results. But what do we mean by that?

Properly assigned tasks push your employees, projects, and the overall company forward. Here’s how.

• They strengthen accountability and trust between managers and employees;
• They help teach new skills and perfect old ones;
• They allow employees to get familiar with other teams and avenues of work;
• It becomes easier to make project estimates;
• Makes for great bases for performance reviews, etc.

The list could go on, but we’ll stop there for now.

Of course, such long-term benefits don’t come without some proverbial blood and sweat in the planning stage. Let’s take a look at the general ideas on assigning employee tasks, and specific steps you can take.

Motivation comes from knowing the bigger picture

When we talk about the bigger picture in project management, we talk about each team member’s task affecting their peer’s down the line. Since all tasks are usually small pieces of the puzzle, it helps to remind employees how their work contributes. For example:

• A high-quality draft can make a great foundation for the final version, and it can be completed more quickly.
• A well-prepared presentation can shave time off unnecessary questions and additional email inquiries.

It comes as no surprise that people work better and are more productive, when they know that their work has an impact on the company level.

And so, when you assign tasks, try to emphasize how they fit in the bigger picture. Simply saying: “ You doing X will help with Y and Z ” and how it reflects on the project as a whole will let an employee know that the task they were assigned is important.

Get your employees excited to commit

Telling people about the bigger picture and showing them what’s possible can only get them so far. It’s enough to ignite the initial spark, but for them to fully commit to the task, you need to define what that task entails.

They should be able to picture how to go about the work, what skills to use, and how to reach the desired result. The clearer the instructions, the more motivated they will be to work.

Simply put, give directions on how the task should be done, and make sure they understand. You can’t read each other’s minds, so it’s important everyone is on the same page.

Ask for task transparency

One of the best practices a company can employ is transparency among coworkers.

This is achieved by having everyone input their tasks for the day in a timesheet. The purpose of timesheets is to get an accurate idea of what everyone is working on at any given time.

When people know who works on what tasks, it’s easier for them to know if a person is available or busy, how far along they are with a task, etc.

So, when you give assignments to employees, label them with deadlines. Alternatively, you can ask for employees’ assessments on how long the work would take them, and use those timeframes.

Source: Clockify team timesheet

Timesheets are a great way to keep an eye on tasks and the people doing them. You get to:

• see who struggles with what (helps assess people’s skill sets);
• who burns through their workload and is available for additional tasks;
• whether your time estimates need correction;
• identify any wasted time.

💡 If your employees are insecure about keeping public records of their tasks, here are a few resources that can help:

• How to create order in your daily work tasks
• How to be more efficient with your tasks

Keep a crystal clear timeframe

While we’re discussing timesheets and deadline transparency, it’s important to mention that the times you set for task completions need to be clear-cut.

As we’ve mentioned, the safest way to assign deadlines is to consult the employees. They are better at assessing how long it will take them due to the tasks’ difficulty, overall deadlines, the standards that need to be met, and the skill required to complete it.

When they get a say in how long they should be doing an assignment, people tend to feel more accountable for the whole process. They will do their best to finish in time, since they actively participated in setting the deadline.

Set very clear expectations

Assigning a task should always include your (the supervisor’s) expectations pointed out. For example:

• Does a logo pitch need as many drafts as possible, or just a few finished pieces?

If you ask a designer to make some drafts for a logo pitch, you must specify the kind of quality you’re looking for. Explain whether you are looking for some sketches and drafts for a brainstorming meeting, or if you want clean, presentable pieces to show.

Additionally:

• How many pieces should the designer do?
• Is there a specific color palette they need to follow?
• How important is the task? Is this the day they finally decide on a logo, or is it still in the brainstorming stage? (decides on the quality of the work itself)

Assigning the task using the above questions, you help the designer understand how much effort precisely they need to invest. They become more motivated with clear instructions, as they know what is expected of them. There’s no fear of having their work criticized for something that wasn’t communicated in the beginning. And on your end, it prevents breached deadlines or subpar results.

Avoid creating dependency by being less involved

It’s not unusual for employees to ask their supervisors for their opinion on a certain task, or their performance.

The problem arises when a supervisor makes themselves too involved with the process. When they feel like the project might fall apart if they don’t have their eyes on every moving part all of the time. And when you have, say, 20 people waiting for that person’s approval, advice, or consultation, the workflow runs into a gridlock.

And wait time is wasted time.

Plus, people lose motivation, patience, and grow frustrated, as they could be doing other things.

So, learn not to jump in every time people call for your aid. Assign reliable people who can address smaller issues, while you handle the big picture. Learn how to expend your own energy where it is needed more.

For example – making a pitch presentation for potential investors keeps getting put off because one person needs you to check a client email they want to send, another wants your signature on a form, and the third wants to ask something about employee feedback that’s coming up.

In order to not be stretched thin, and have your time wasted on menial tasks, here’s where you can start:

How to mitigate the risk of being over-involved when assigning

• Remember that you match tasks to people

Which means that, by matching the right people with the right tasks, your involvement will be minimal. Take time to carefully choose who gets to do what. What is the point of assigning tasks if they can’t be done without you?

• Have a 10-point scale to judge the importance of items

How important are certain aspects of your leadership role? Are you absolutely necessary in every meeting, or during every call? Which tasks need your approval, and which ones can be approved by someone under you?

Rank these items on a scale of 0 to 10, based on their importance to you and the project. Top priority tasks should get your undivided attention. And what can be delegated, should be.

• Analyze your schedule

Your energy and time are needed on a much broader scale. The best way to spot if you’re wasting time being too involved is to look at your schedule. Identify how much time you’ve spent on low-priority items, and assess which issues could’ve been solved without you.

• Take into account priorities and deadlines

Step in only when absolutely necessary. You are in charge of things getting done on time, by people most qualified for assigned tasks. Determine what your priorities are for each project, and concern yourself only with those issues, unless there is a risk of breaching a deadline.

• Formulate a list of dependable people

If you know your employees (or team members) well enough, then you should be able to single out those who are more dependable and ready to take on a little more responsibilities. Write out the reasons how they could help by getting involved on low-priority items instead of you. When the time comes, rally them and present them with the idea, keeping in mind that this solution helps push the project forward. When authority is delegated to several people, there’s fewer chances of a hold-up in the workflow.

This also falls into the realm of task delegation , which we’ll get into later.

How do you decide what tasks to assign to which employees?

1. assign based on priority.

Naturally, some tasks will be more important than others. When you break down a project into tasks , spend some time assessing their priority level.

High-priority tasks should be the first on your list to allocate. Whether it’s because they’re time-sensitive, or require more effort and dedication.

Low priority tasks can be allocated as fillers to the first available person.

2. Assign based on employee availability

Another factor to consider when assigning tasks is who is available at the moment.

As the project moves along, new tasks will be added. You will have to allocate new work, but odds are you won’t always be able to pick who you want. Especially if a deadline is approaching, the person with the smallest workload should be your first choice.

Overloading an already busy individual just because they’re more skilled or you have faith in them the most puts an unnecessary strain on them. It’s cause for frustration, poorer results, and decreased productivity.

And as we’ve mentioned, if you have a timesheet with an overview of all the tasks and employees working on them, it’ll be much easier to spot who is free and who isn’t.

3. Assign based on employee skill level

High-priority tasks should go to employees with more experience in a given field or skill. However, you should occasionally give such tasks to other employees as well, to help them grow and become just as dependable. Giving people challenging tasks that can boost their experience is essential to productivity and morale.

Not to mention you get to have multiple high-skilled employees.

Low-priority tasks can be assigned to anyone, despite their experience level. They’re a good opportunity to practice, pick up new skills, or get smaller tasks out of the way to make room for more important ones.

4. Assign based on preference

Last, but not the least, preference can also play a big part in how you assign tasks.

It’s a given that some employees will prefer certain tasks over others. So it could be good to assign tasks at a meeting with the team. As you discuss priorities, deadlines, and availability, ask them which tasks they would like to work on.

If someone shows interest in a specific type of work, they should (with some consideration), be allowed to take it. After all, people are more productive when they’re assigned to something they find new or exciting.

Note: Apply this rule with caution. Letting people do only the tasks they want can stunt their career growth. Getting out of our comfort zones and occasionally doing tasks that we don’t like is how we develop and learn. So, don’t forget to document assignments as you hand them out, to spot these potential issues early on.

Allocating vs delegating tasks

While semantically similar words, delegation and allocation in terms of tasks are two different things.

When you allocate tasks , you are assigning tasks without giving the employees much authority, challenge, or room to grow. It includes you keeping all of the responsibility – writing out the tasks, making deadlines, providing resources, tools, etc. These are usually recurring tasks that can become repetitive.

When you delegate tasks , you allow for some of that responsibility to fizzle out from your fingers. All you think about are the objectives, while letting the employees figure out the details and means to get there.

However, that doesn’t mean delegation is right and the allocation is wrong.

Task allocation has its own place. It is just as important, as a lot of tasks come down to repeated processes that are still vital to the project progress. Task delegation is just a good opportunity for employees to learn, challenge themselves, and assess their skills and performance.

When should you allocate tasks?

Management and BizDev consultant Artem Albul shared his concept on task assignment, which he dubbed an “algorithm”. He emphasized how these criteria are useful only and only when you wish that employees perform the tasks based on your guidelines and instructions (aka allocation).

Here is how Albul broke down the algorithm:

Source: Artem Albul, TWA Consulting

As we can see, task allocation, while the more “controlling” of the two, also gives in-depth instructions and asks for confirmation on task clarity. A lot of it comes down to everyone being on the same page, leaving little to no room for misinterpretation (but also creative freedom).

How should you allocate tasks?

With all that we’ve mentioned in the previous section, here’s how your task allotment could look like, step by step.

• Break down your project

Detail out the goals, objectives, and some individual tasks (not all, be careful not to start micromanaging). Place the most important deadlines.

• Prioritize tasks and sort them

It’s important to know what tasks need to be done faster/better, to properly allocate your resources and manpower from the start.

• Make a list of teams and team members

Assign team leaders (if you don’t have them), and alternatively, ask for their input on individual employees skills, for a more informed decision on who gets what.

• Schedule a meeting

Make a meeting with the team leads and go through the points above. Assign tasks according to each team’s availability, interest, and skill required to successfully push the project forward.

• As team leads – assign tasks further down the pipeline
• Track task completion and make necessary changes along the way

Whether it’s pushing deadlines, reassigning tasks, or shifting around resources. This is perfectly fine and expected, so long as it doesn’t happen on every task you’ve assigned. Then, it is an indicator of poor pre-planning.

• Offer feedback and write performances

Don’t forget to track the progress and make notes of important details that might help the next task allocation/delegation process. It’s also a useful piece of information for the employees on what they need to improve on.

Allocating tasks is somewhat more complicated than we want it to be. But, this kind of thorough research and preparation will make projects run more smoothly. Employees will also be more satisfied with their work, and there will be less hurdles as deadlines approach.

When should you delegate tasks?

Delegation is a great practice in trust for both the employer/supervisor and the employee. The employer learns how to give away some of their control over the process, while the employee learns how to take more accountability for their work.

This lets you focus on big-picture aspects of your job, since you deal less with assignments that are low-priority for you. You save time and energy, while helping others move up in their careers.

How do you effectively delegate tasks as a leader?

As we’ve mentioned, delegating includes more employee independence. There are some additional components which make this type of task assignment more appealing than allocation, with great opportunities for growth.

Focus on delegating objectives instead of actual tasks

When you delegate, you focus on the objective that needs to be done. You shouldn’t give employees a “color by numbers” instruction on how to complete a task.

Communicate clearly what the end result should be and what expectations you (or the higher-ups) have. Leave the means for reaching that end goal to the employees themselves. Because how you solve a task may be completely different to how they will. And that is perfectly fine, so long as the result is the one you are looking for.

Keep the objectives challenging

When the objectives you’re delegating are too easy, chances are the person will either procrastinate, or feel like you don’t trust them enough. And if they’re too difficult, they get frustrated, anxious, and begin to panic.

It’s a good idea to be aware of an employee’s skill level, so you can gauge how much challenge and responsibility they can take on. For them to be the most productive and achieve great results, they need to enter “the state of Flow”.

Source: Optimal Experience , M. Csikszentmihalyi

💡 We’ve discussed the state of Flow in more detail in an article on time organization.

Encourage discussion and feedback

Let employees voice their opinions on the topic.

They should ask anything about the task, the goals, or the overall impact their work will have on the later stages or others’ workflow. It means they are interested in the task, and getting involved.

And if they aren’t asking questions themselves, you can always nudge them into proactivity.

• Is there something you’d like me to clarify?
• Do you already have any ideas on how to go about the task?
• Is the time we agreed upon enough for you?
• Will you need other resources, tools, or support?
• Do you see any problems or risks?

Questions like these help them feel valued, their efforts acknowledged, and let them know you care about the task and how well they perform. Just be careful not to overdo it, or you’ll start to look like a micromanager.

Give employees free rein, but offer support

Speaking of micromanaging, delegation means you let people problem-solve their way out on their own. There should be no reason for a manager to step in and control or supervise any step of the process, unless absolutely necessary.

However, what you should do is let them know you’re available for any advice should they feel stuck. Just because employees get authority on a certain task, and are left to their own devices, doesn’t mean the project has to suffer until they pull themselves up.

From time to time, ask them if they need anything from you, and make sure they know you’re there for any kind of support, consultation, or mediation. ANother good practice is to also give them additional learning opportunities – such as training, conferences, courses, etc.

Delegate objectives that move people forward

Choose assignments that boost the skills and employ all of their experiences, instead of something that simply needs to be done. For example:

• Tasks that require they brush up on their team communication skills;
• Learning how to allocate smaller tasks;
• Supervising others’ work and doing quality control;
• Learning to work with a new tool;
• Holding a meeting (or more), etc.

Find out which skills your employees may want or need to develop, and then plan your delegations accordingly. You want them to complete the task while having learned something new at the same time.

How to choose who to delegate to

Paul Beesley, senior director and consultant at Beyond Theory proposed a nifty checklist for when you’re choosing an employee to delegate to. It’s meant to simplify and speed up the process.

To successfully complete the delegated task, your chosen employee needs:

S – the skill to perform and complete a task

T – the time to complete the task, and if needed, learn the required skill

A – the authority to handle everything concerning the task

R – the necessary level of responsibility

R – the recognition for successfully completing the task

This list is a set of important criteria that should be covered when you consider who to assign to a specific task. However, depending on your niche, type of service, company size and the project at hand, the criteria are likely to change. And it should accommodate your needs, not the other way around.

Common task delegation mistakes to avoid

With all being said, there are some common mistakes managers and employers make, sometimes without even realizing it.

• Being too vague concerning deadlines (using: as soon as possible, when you get to it, I need it by yesterday). It creates unnecessary pressure.
• Being unavailable for questions and concerns. While you shouldn’t micromanage, you should still be present for support if an employee feels stuck. Ignoring them or handing them over to someone else could cause distrust. However, if you are usually swamped with work, set consultation hours each day or week.
• Having unclear directions. Specifying the allotted time for task completion and expectations should be the bare minimum when delegating tasks.
• Not providing feedback. No feedback is worse than bad feedback. Employees need to be aware when they’re doing good work, as well. In one company I worked for, the mantra was: “If no one is complaining about your work, that means you’re doing good”. And while it sounds like sound logic, it actually caused a lot of frustration. We were left directionless, and simply “floating” from task to task, never knowing if any of them had a positive impact on our performance.
• Not listening to employees. Take into account how they feel about a task or the objective. Let them give you feedback and if there are potential problems from the get-go.
• Assigning other people to the same task. If you notice a person struggling, the first instinct should be to ask them how they’re faring, and if they need any help. Some managers tend to assign other employees to help them without consultation, which leaves a sore taste. The employee will feel even more incompetent and will be less likely to take on a similar task in the future.
• Assuming people will know what you mean. This is one of the biggest problems. When you’re formulating a task, be as clear as possible about the goals and expectations. Oftentimes managers think that these things are implied, but the truth is – no one is a mind reader. To avoid having information misconstrued or misunderstood, communicate clearly and directly.

There could be more mistakes, especially for every different field and industry. If at all possible, identify the most common ones, made either by you or your peers. Note down all the instances where certain tasks weren’t up to par, and see what you could have changed in your assignment process to fix it. Maybe there wasn’t enough time or resources, you were unclear, or the employee wasn’t ready for such responsibility. Use the same procedure in all future task delegations. It’s the only way to learn and make the process quicker.

Use Clockify to assign tasks with ease

Now you’re a master of task delegation — congrats!

But there’s more to it than meets the eye.

In fact, what if you used a digital tool like Clockify to increase the likelihood that each job would be completed on time and on point?

In Clockify, you can easily create highly descriptive assignments that contain information like:

• Start time,
• Billability status,
• Name of the employee,
• Period for getting the assignment done,
• Hours per day to spend on the assignment, and more.

That way, you can plan who works on what, how long, and when.

Similarly, Clockify allows you to create project milestones to achieve results faster.

With the Milestones option, you can select dates for deadlines, allowing you to pin down important events in your projects.

For example, if your client expects you to keep them in the loop about developments, you can inform them promptly on whether your team has reached the agreed-upon milestones.

Refocus on your company’s big picture with a project and time tracking tool.

Marijana Stojanovic is a writer and researcher who specializes in the topics of productivity and time management.

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What is a task? and how to get more of them done

While the word “task” might bring about feelings of despair related to chores or undesirable actions, this is usually related more so to the way you have to manage your time than the task itself.

In this article, we’ll do a deep dive into tasks, show you the best ways to break down larger projects into them, while covering efficient approaches to manage and distribute tasks.

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What is a task in a project?

In project management, a task is a work item or activity with a specific purpose related to the larger goal. It’s a necessary step on the road towards project completion.

For example, it could be something as complex as a mobile app bug fix.

Or it could be something as simple as photocopying the latest brochure for distribution.

Single tasks are typically assigned to a single person or team, while the larger project could be a company-wide endeavor.

The task may or may not include a start and end date or a series of subtasks—this all depends on the complexity of the project at hand, which could be related to industry.

How do you break down a project into smaller tasks?

Even long term Scrum projects that last  11.6 weeks on average make use of task management to get their work done efficiently and effectively.

Part of task management includes creating manageable workloads, considering task dependencies, and of course, communicating across teams to avoid double work or roadblocks.

To avoid these issues, you need some way to break down the high-level project deliverables and goals into tangible tasks.

In the next section, we’ll show you two of the most popular methodologies, Waterfall, and Scrum.

Work Breakdown Structure

The work breakdown structure (WBS) is the official method of breaking down projects in the PMI Guidebook.

To figure out how to break the entire project into tasks, you first need to divide it into the actual deliverables required to hand over the final product or result to the client.

For example, if you’re planning to make a mountain bike, you can break that down into the frame, handlebars, pedals, wheels, chains, and so on.

( Image Source )

You also need to work out the dependencies of the project (aka which deliverables require another one for completion).

If we were to simplify the WBS, the section on manufacturing the bike frame might look something like this.

Of course, each item contains multiple tasks such as sourcing vendors, reviewing designs, picking materials, and more.

But if you assign these tasks to teams who have the necessary skills to complete all of them, that’s what the top-level plan might look like.

If you use an Agile framework, like Scrum, you won’t bother breaking down the entire project into detailed tasks at an early stage. Avoiding this large-scale exercise in prediction is one of the primary principles of Agile.

Instead, you’ll focus on planning out a deliverable increment of your product in Scrum sprints . These are 2–4 week periods of focused work dedicated to delivering a working product version of the final deliverable.

The basis for planning out these iterations is a backlog of features or user stories (functionality from the user’s perspective). You may also have a product roadmap to outline the long-term product direction as well.

The product backlog is continually pruned and optimized before, during, and after sprints. Even if you’re not planning software projects, you can often single out elements that you can deliver in increments.

Before each Sprint, you meet with your team and stakeholders (invested parties) to discuss which user stories are the most important. You select a few items and create a dedicated sprint backlog .

Each user story is then further divided into tasks, and team members take ownership of the specific tasks they can handle.

It’s not ideal for all organizations or projects, but it’s an antidote against micromanagement in complex projects.

What size should a project task be?

So how granular should you get? What should the scope and length of the task in your project be?

It depends on the size of your project and your PM framework, but here are some rules of thumb.

The 8/80 rule for WBS

In traditional project management, a rule of thumb is that no task should be shorter than 8 hours or longer than 80 hours in the WBS.

That’s why the PMI recommends keeping tasks between 20–80 hours in the WBS.

Your individual teams can then have more granular task boards to manage their own to-do lists and/or break 2-week tasks down into daily sub-tasks.

Task length in Scrum

While user stories generally have no specified length, they’re often broken down into manageable chunks, usually one workday or less.

The official Scrum Guide doesn’t use the word tasks, but instead uses the term work unit:

“ Work planned for the first days of the Sprint by the Development Team is decomposed by the end of this meeting, often to units of one day or less. ”

On a Scrum board , you can use story points (at monday.com, we equate 1 SP to a workday) to estimate the length of the task.

Tasks shouldn’t require more than one resource

When you break down deliverables into individual tasks, time isn’t the only consideration. The best approach is to make sure the person (or resource) who’s assigned the task can complete it from start to finish.

For example, a graphic designer could create a wireframe for an app, but wouldn’t be able to create a working prototype.

So you should split the larger deliverable of a working feature prototype into wireframe/design and development (at the very least).

For larger companies, a resource could be an entire team that includes designers, developers, and software testers. In which case, you don’t have to get as granular when planning and assigning tasks.

Accurately estimating task durations

The best way to predict the duration of tasks is to involve the actual resources who will handle the task in the planning process.

You don’t need to switch to Agile or Scrum to make this happen. You just need to involve the actual project implementers in the planning process, not just management.

Not only can they help with task durations, but they can also help with dependencies and expecting potential bottlenecks.

What is the best way to organize project tasks?

There are hundreds of different frameworks and methods for managing projects and breaking them down into tasks.

A few stand out because of their efficiency and ease of adoption and have become popular as a result.

Let’s take a closer look at these industry-leading options.

Waterfall refers to the traditional “predictive” project management approach. It’s called predictive because you plan every phase of the project from start to finish before even getting started.

The reason it’s called waterfall is that the projects are planned to follow a sequential order.

First, you start out by figuring out the requirements of the project. What deliverables do you need to deliver a finished product?

Then you move on to designing and creating (implementing) it. Finally, you verify that the product works as intended, and launch it. The last stage includes the long-term maintenance of the product.

While berating waterfall is a popular pastime among younger management professionals, it has its place.

For physical products with a lot of dependencies and high costs associated with actual production time, mapping out the entire project in detail can be the best approach.

Instead of a specific methodology, Agile outlines a core set of values and principles to apply to your projects. As a result, Agile is an umbrella term that covers many different methodologies and frameworks .

The most famous principle is to deliver working iterations of your project frequently. That’s in contrast to planning out an entire product from start to finish like with waterfall.

Lean, like Agile, is not a specific framework that details a project management approach. Instead, it refers to a management philosophy with a core set of principles.

The focus of Lean is eliminating waste in processes throughout each stage of production. The execution is what controls the outcome, after all.

Fixing bottlenecks between departments to speed up the final assembly is a good example.

Not to be confused with Agile, which is more about high-level concepts and principles, Scrum is an actual framework for project management.

It outlines clear rules, meetings (ceremonies), and deliverables (artifacts), not just values.

For example, Scrum teams should only include a maximum of 9 regular team members. Daily Scrum meetings should only last 15 minutes.

The entire process of designing and completing a sprint is laid out in detail. That’s what makes the Scrum framework so useful for teams that want to implement more Agile principles into practice.

How to use a project management platform for effective task management

Instead of slowing down your managers and teams with an inefficient process, take advantage of the latest task management software .

monday.com is a digital workspace with all the functionality a project manager could ever want, wrapped in a package that’s actually easy to learn and use.

Pick the framework or methodology you want to work with

If you want to reach a completely new target level of productivity, basic task management won’t cut it. You need to introduce a project management framework that goes beyond daily tasks.

Luckily, monday.com makes it easy to make the switch. We offer dedicated templates for everything from WBS to Scrum.

Develop the high-level project roadmap

For consistent results, you should develop a high-level project roadmap. It will help guide all decisions and priorities as the project progresses.

Get more granular with a WBS and other task boards

This is where you break the larger goals into smaller deliverables and start to establish the workload for each team or department that’s involved.

It should outline the overall process but may not specify every activity or task, depending on the scale of the project.

But it’s not the best for planning individual tasks within the involved teams or departments.

Which is why monday.com also offers more basic task boards that these teams can use to manage the day-to-day.

You can easily divide larger items into smaller subtasks and assign them as well.

Use integrations and automations to automate menial tasks

If you want to perfect your workflow , it’s not enough to create some new task boards. You also need to eliminate repetitive menial tasks.

For example, with our smart integrations, you can automatically update a card or create a new task when you receive an email or message.

It’s a useful feature for a wide variety of teams and use-cases. For example, your software team could get a new task with every bug report.

By automating menial tasks, you give your managers and team the time and space to focus on crucial high-level decisions.

Keep managers up to speed with dashboards and reports

Want to see at a glance if tasks are being completed on schedule, or which people (or teams) are available for last-minute work?

You can easily create and customize a dashboard that will give your managers instant access to all the information they need.

Master your tasks

Breaking down a project into tasks and assigning them effectively requires a bit of balance.

Finding the framework that works best for your industry and internal workflows and pairing them with the tips above can help you find the happy medium of management and autonomy that will allow your teams to thrive.

Whichever you choose, monday.com has the right templates and tools to help your projects succeed.

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Definition of assign verb from the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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• 3 [ usually passive ] assign somebody to somebody/something to send a person to work under the authority of someone or in a particular group I was assigned to B platoon.
• 4 to say that something has a particular value or function, or happens at a particular time or place assign something to something Assign a different color to each different type of information. assign something sth The painting cannot be assigned an exact date.
• 5 assign something to somebody ( law ) to say that your property or rights now belong to someone else The agreement assigns copyright to the publisher. She has assigned the lease to her daughter.

Nearby words

How to Assign Tasks and Responsibilities to Team Members

As a manager or team leader, it’s important to effectively assign tasks and responsibilities to team members in order to ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively.

This can be a challenging task, especially if you have a large team, are working on a complex project, or are leading a team with no experience .

In this blog post, we will provide tips and best practices for assigning tasks and responsibilities to team members in a way that helps your team succeed.

We’ll cover topics such as setting clear expectations, delegating tasks appropriately, and providing support to team members as they complete their work.

By following these guidelines, you can create a productive and collaborative work environment that helps your team achieve its goals.

Setting Clear Expectations

One of the key elements of effective task assignments is setting clear expectations for team members.

This includes outlining the specific tasks that need to be completed, as well as any deadlines or goals that need to be met. It’s also important to communicate the purpose of the tasks and how they fit into the overall goals of the project or organization.

This helps team members understand the context of their work and why it’s important.

To set clear expectations, it’s a good idea to create a written document or task list that outlines the specific responsibilities of each team member.

This can be a simple spreadsheet or project management tool, or a more detailed project plan. Make sure to include details such as the task description, any necessary resources or tools, and any deadlines or milestones.

It’s also a good idea to discuss the task assignments with team members individually, to ensure that they understand their responsibilities and have any questions answered.

By setting clear expectations, you can help team members stay organized and focused as they complete their work.

Delegating Tasks Appropriately

Effective task assignment also involves delegating tasks to the right team members.

This means considering the skills, experience, and workload of each team member, and assigning tasks that are appropriate for their abilities and capacity. Delegating tasks appropriately helps to ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively, and helps to avoid overloading any one team member or causing delays due to a lack of resources.

To delegate tasks appropriately, it’s important to have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of each team member. This may involve reviewing their previous work or having candid conversations about their interests and capabilities.

It’s also important to consider the workload of each team member and ensure that they are not taking on more work than they can handle.

Another key aspect of effective task assignments is empowering team members to take ownership of their work . This means giving them the autonomy to complete tasks in their own way, within the parameters set by the project plan or task list.

Empowering team members to take ownership of their work can help to foster a sense of ownership and responsibility, and can lead to higher quality work and greater job satisfaction.

Providing Support to Team Members

Effective task assignment also involves providing support to team members as they complete their work.

This includes making sure that team members have the necessary resources and tools to complete their tasks, as well as offering guidance and assistance when needed. Providing support helps to ensure that team members are able to complete their work efficiently and effectively, and can also help to foster a sense of teamwork and collaboration within the team.

There are several ways that you can provide support to team members as they complete their work. This may include offering training or development opportunities, providing access to necessary resources or tools, and offering feedback and guidance as needed.

It’s also important to be available to team members if they have questions or need assistance with their tasks. By providing support and assistance, you can help team members to feel more confident and capable as they complete their work.

In conclusion, effective task assignment is an important element of managing a team or project. By setting clear expectations, delegating tasks appropriately, and providing support to team members, you can create a productive and collaborative work environment that helps your team succeed.

Communicating Task Assignments and Updates

Effective task assignment also involves effective communication with team members.

This includes not only clearly outlining the tasks and responsibilities that need to be completed, but also keeping team members informed of any updates or changes to the tasks or project plan. This can help to ensure that team members are aware of their responsibilities and are able to stay on track with their work.

There are several ways that you can communicate task assignments and updates to team members. This may include using a project management tool or task list to keep track of assignments and deadlines, as well as regularly holding meetings or check-ins to discuss progress and address any issues that may arise.

It’s also important to be available to team members if they have questions or need clarification on their tasks.

Effective communication is key to ensuring that team members are able to complete their work efficiently and effectively.

By keeping team members informed and providing clear guidance, you can help to ensure that work is completed on time and to the required standards.

Assessing and Adjusting Task Assignments

Effective task assignment also involves ongoing assessment and adjustment of task assignments as needed. This means regularly reviewing the progress of team members and the overall project, and making adjustments to tasks or responsibilities as needed to ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively.

To assess and adjust task assignments, it’s important to regularly check in with team members and review their progress.

This may involve holding meetings or check-ins, as well as reviewing any project management tools or task lists that you are using to track progress. If you notice that a team member is struggling with their tasks or is unable to complete them on time, it may be necessary to adjust their assignments or provide additional support.

Similarly, if you notice that a team member has extra capacity or is particularly skilled in a certain area, you may want to consider reassigning tasks or increasing their responsibilities.

By regularly assessing and adjusting task assignments, you can ensure that work is completed efficiently and effectively, and that team members are able to make the most of their skills and abilities.

Encouraging Team Input and Feedback

Effective task assignment also involves encouraging team input and feedback.

This means soliciting ideas and suggestions from team members and actively listening to their concerns or issues related to their tasks or the project as a whole. Encouraging team input and feedback can help to foster a sense of ownership and engagement among team members, and can also lead to better decision-making and problem-solving.

There are several ways that you can encourage team input and feedback. This may include holding regular team meetings or check-ins, as well as setting aside time for open discussion and brainstorming sessions.

It’s also a good idea to create a culture of open and honest communication within your team, where team members feel comfortable speaking up and sharing their ideas or concerns.

By encouraging team input and feedback, you can create a more collaborative and inclusive work environment that helps your team succeed.

Providing Recognition and Rewards

Effective task assignment also involves providing recognition and rewards to team members who excel in their work. This can help to motivate team members and encourage them to continue performing at a high level, as well as foster a positive work culture.

There are many ways that you can provide recognition and rewards to team members. This may include offering verbal praise or written feedback, as well as more tangible rewards such as gift cards, paid time off, or additional responsibilities.

It’s important to consider the preferences and motivations of individual team members when deciding on recognition and rewards, as different people may respond differently to different forms of recognition.

By providing recognition and rewards to team members who excel in their work, you can show appreciation for their efforts and help to motivate and inspire them to continue performing at a high level.

Wrapping Up

Effective task assignment is an important element of managing a team or project.

It involves setting clear expectations for team members, delegating tasks appropriately, and providing support and assistance as needed.

Effective task assignment also involves ongoing communication and assessment, as well as encouraging team input and feedback and providing recognition and rewards for excellent performance.

By following these guidelines, you can create a productive and collaborative work environment that helps your team succeed.

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Look up a word, learn it forever.

Other forms: assigned; assigns; assigning

To assign is to specify something or someone for a specific purpose. If your sisters fight over whose turn it is to sit in the front seat, your parents may have to assign turns.

The verb assign also means to transfer legal rights. You assign the deed to your house to new owners when you sell it. If you sort things into categories by characteristics, you are assigning them categories. When you make a budget, you assign each expense a category. Food and housing, for example, may be essential living expenses and medicine and doctor's visits may be health care. Chocolate gets its own category.

• verb select something or someone for a specific purpose “The teacher assigned him to lead his classmates in the exercise” synonyms: set apart , specify see more see less types: dedicate set apart to sacred uses with solemn rites, of a church detail assign to a specific task type of: choose , pick out , select , take pick out, select, or choose from a number of alternatives
• verb give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person) synonyms: delegate , depute , designate see more see less types: show 27 types... hide 27 types... mandate assign authority to cast select to play,sing, or dance a part in a play, movie, musical, opera, or ballet post assign to a post; put into a post cast assign the roles of (a movie or a play) to actors devolve pass on or delegate to another task assign a task to place place somebody in a particular situation or location regiment assign to a regiment reassign , transfer transfer somebody to a different position or location of work delegate , depute transfer power to someone mandate assign under a mandate advance , elevate , kick upstairs , promote , raise , upgrade give a promotion to or assign to a higher position break , bump , demote , kick downstairs , relegate assign to a lower position; reduce in rank place assign to (a job or a home) recast cast again, in a different role miscast cast an actor, singer, or dancer in an unsuitable role typecast cast repeatedly in the same kind of role second transfer an employee to a different, temporary assignment exchange hand over one and receive another, approximately equivalent tenure give life-time employment to bring up promote from a lower position or rank spot promote promote on the spot ennoble , entitle , gentle give a title to someone; make someone a member of the nobility sideline remove from the center of activity or attention; place into an inferior position reduce bring to humbler or weaker state or condition favor , favour , prefer promote or prefer over another brevet promote somebody by brevet, in the military type of: appoint , charge assign a duty, responsibility, or obligation to
• verb decide as to where something belongs in a scheme “The biologist assigned the mushroom to the proper class” synonyms: attribute see more see less types: classify , relegate assign to a class or kind type of: evaluate , judge , pass judgment form a critical opinion of
• verb give out “We were assigned new uniforms” synonyms: allot , portion see more see less types: show 5 types... hide 5 types... allow , appropriate , earmark , reserve , set aside give or assign a resource to a particular person or cause allocate , apportion distribute according to a plan or set apart for a special purpose reallocate , reapportion allocate, distribute, or apportion anew ration , ration out distribute in rations, as in the army award , present give, especially as an honor or reward type of: administer , allot , deal , deal out , dish out , dispense , distribute , dole , dole out , lot , mete , mete out , parcel out , shell out administer or bestow, as in small portions
• verb attribute or give synonyms: put see more see less types: repose put or confide something in a person or thing type of: apply , employ , use , utilise , utilize put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose
• verb attribute or credit to synonyms: ascribe , attribute , impute impute attribute (responsibility or fault) to a cause or source see more see less types: show 10 types... hide 10 types... impute attribute (responsibility or fault) to a cause or source carnalise , carnalize , sensualise , sensualize ascribe to an origin in sensation credit give someone credit for something reattribute attribute to another source anthropomorphise , anthropomorphize ascribe human features to something personate , personify attribute human qualities to something accredit , credit ascribe an achievement to blame , charge attribute responsibility to externalise , externalize , project regard as objective interiorise , interiorize , internalise , internalize incorporate within oneself; make subjective or personal type of: evaluate , judge , pass judgment form a critical opinion of
• verb transfer one's right to see more see less type of: transfer cause to change ownership
• verb make undue claims to having synonyms: arrogate see more see less type of: arrogate , claim , lay claim demand as being one's due or property; assert one's right or title to

Vocabulary lists containing assign

Vocabulary from "Beowulf" (translated by by Gummere).

Based on the true story of Navajo code talkers, this novel recounts the exploits of Ned Begay, a sixteen-year-old Navajo soldier in World War II. Ned's language skills prove to be invaluable as the Americans work to send secret messages to help them in their fight.

This collection of autobiographical short stories by Francisco Jiménez explores the immigrant experience in the United States.

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Publish task lists to define and track work in your organization

As an operations manager or similar business leader, you can centrally create a list of tasks for many teams in your org and monitor for completion of work. This feature is designed to make task management easier for organizations with frontline workers distributed across many different geographic locations.

This capability is available to you in the Planner app in Microsoft Teams if your organization  enabled task publishing for you and your team.  

In this article

Before you get started

Create a publishable task list

Make changes to a list that hasn't been published yet

Publish a task list

Make changes to a published task list

View reporting for published tasks

With task publishing, your organization can centrally define tasks and distribute them to the teams who must perform the work. If enabled for you by your organization , you’ll find this functionality in the Planner app in Microsoft Teams.

In the task publishing experience, you start with a task list, which you can add tasks to. You have control over the details for each task in a list so you can add notes, set the priority, attach documents and photos, or apply requirements for completion. When you add at least one task to a task list, you can publish that list to the teams (locations) that you choose. After publishing a list, you’ll see a reporting view that reflects completion status of the work across locations, and:  

Frontline workers can see all tasks assigned to them in the Planner app in Teams on mobile, desktop, and web.

Frontline managers can use Planner to track task progress and completion for their locations.

Organization leaders can use Planner to see task progress across all locations.

Frontline workers and managers won’t be able to delete the tasks published to their team. The title, notes field, and checklist item fields are also protected for published tasks, so frontline employees can't change the details of the work.

Important:  You'll only see the Publishing page if your organization enabled task publishing by uploading a hierarchy and you're a member of a team in that hierarchy. If publishing is available for you, the Publishing page allows you to broadly publish to teams you're not a member of. The My Tasks & Plans page shows your individual tasks for yourself and the tasks you're working on directly with teammates (in your teams and channels). Plans in My Tasks & Plans can't be published.

Before you get started 

Learn about the types of lists you can create and publish .

There are two types of task lists in task publishing. You can create lists with tasks for each team  (known as standard task lists) and lists with tasks  for each team member . Here’s more information about each type of list and when to use them.

Get familiar with the Publishing page

Note:   Some users will also see a Received section where they see lists published to their team by teams higher up in the hierarchy. Most publishing users won’t see this section.

Create a new task list

For each team .   Use for tasks that need to be completed once per team, also referred to as a standard task list.

For each team member . Use for tasks that everyone on the team must complete, such as training or policy acknowledgement tasks.

Important:  After you create a list with tasks for each team , you can’t change it to a list for each team member and vice versa. You’ll need to create a new list.

Name your list.

If you belong to more than one team that can publish, select the team to publish from. The teams that receive the task list publication will be able to see which team the task list was published from.

Select  Create . The new list appears under  Drafts .

Under  Task title , give the first task a title, and select Enter .

Select the task title to open the task and add or edit any of the following.   

Bucket. Use to categorize tasks. For example,  Warehouse  or  Sales Desk  buckets could be used to identify the work group who will perform the task.

Priority. Options are Urgent, Important, Medium, and Low.

Start date or due date

A checklist of up to 20 items. You control the items, order, and whether the  checklist is required for task completion . Task recipients control marking each item complete. 

An attachment 

Requirements for task completion. Task recipients must complete the requirements before they can mark the task complete. To learn more, see Set requirements for task completion in a task list . 

Required form : Link up to two forms that task recipients must fill out. You can create a new form or use an existing form.

Required approval : Add an approval requirement for task recipients to request and receive approval from a manager. This is only available for tasks lists created using the For each team option (also known as standard task lists). 

To add another task, enter a task name in the  New task  field.

Tip:  After you create tasks, you can bulk edit the priority, due date, or bucket for all the selected tasks. 

 If you created your list using the For each team option (also known as a standard task list), you can make it recurring so that it automatically publishes on a repeating schedule. To do so, select Does not repeat , choose the recurrence settings for the list, and then select Save . To learn more about working with recurring task lists, see Use recurring task lists . 

Duplicate a task list

You can create a copy of any task list using the Duplicate action. This action creates a new list with a copy of the tasks in the original list. You can choose the name of the new list and which team it should be created for. Then, you can edit the tasks in the new list to prepare it for publishing.

Name the list and select the Publish from team. If you belong to more than one team in your organization’s hierarchy, you'll see multiple choices. The teams that receive the task list publication will be able to see which team the task list was published from.

Select Duplicate . After the list is duplicated, it appears under Drafts . You can interact with the list just like other draft lists.  

Make changes to a task list that hasn't been published yet 

Edit tasks in a draft or scheduled list.

Under  Drafts or Scheduled , select the task list you want to edit. 

To change a task, select its title to open the task, and then do one of the following:

To change any of the task's fields, select the field and edit as needed. You can also add or remove attachments and requirements.  

Rename a list

You can rename a draft list before you publish it. 

Enter the new name in the Title box, and then select Save .

Delete a task list from Drafts or Unpublished

Important:  You can't delete a list in the Published state or a recurring list series in the Scheduled state. You must first unpublish the list or cancel the list series and then unpublish it, which deletes all tasks in the list or lists from all recipient teams. After unpublishing the list or list series, it appears under  Unpublished.

You can delete any task list under Drafts  or  Unpublished .

Under Drafts or Unpublished , go to the task list you want to delete.

Publish a task list 

Publish a task list .

When your task list is ready to go, publish it to the teams whose members will do the work. 

Note:  After you publish a list, you can  make changes to the tasks but you can't make changes to the teams selected to receive those tasks.

Under  Drafts , select a task list, and then in the upper-right corner, select  Publish  or Publish series (if it's a recurring task list ). 

Choose how to select the recipient teams. You can select the teams from a hierarchy or upload a custom list of teams. Learn more about these options . The following steps show selection from a hierarchy.

To select all the teams within a branch of the hierarchy, select the check box next to it. For example, selecting "North America" selects all the locations in that region. 

To publish to only locations with certain attributes, select a filter. For example, to select all locations with a large layout, select the "Large" filter. In the example image, the task list will be published to all large stores in North America.

Choose whether to notify recipient teams.

Select  Next , and then review your publication plan. To make changes, select  Back .  

Select the  Ready, everything looks good here check box, and then choose  Publish . 

As soon as the publishing process begins, the task list moves from Drafts to Published to indicate that tasks are being sent and becoming visible to recipients. 

Task publishing can take a little while if there are a large number of tasks in your task list or if you select a large number of recipient teams. It’s okay to leave the publishing screen and come back later— the tasks will continue publishing in the background. 

When publishing is done, you'll see a message at the top of the  Publishing page indicating your tasks were successfully delivered.

Important:  If alert icons appear, select  View details  to help resolve the issues.

Edit tasks in a published list

You can edit tasks in a published list by putting the list into edit mode. When the list is in edit mode, you can update tasks in the list, delete tasks from the list, or add new tasks to the list. Changes aren't published to recipient teams until you select the  Publish changes  and confirm the summary. 

When you publish changes to a task in a published list, the values in the task fields in the updated task will overwrite the values of those task fields in each recipient team, with the exception that the status of the task isn’t reset. For this reason, we recommend editing a task in a published list when you want to clarify what needs to be done. If there's a correction that requires the task to be completed again even if it was completed per the previous task details, we recommend deleting the original task and creating a new one.

Under  Published , select the list you want to edit, and then choose Edit list .

When you're ready to publish the changes, select Publish changes in the upper-right corner to publish the changes to all the original recipient teams.   Alternatively, you can choose to cancel the edits you made, and the list will revert back to its previously published state.

Unpublish a list 

Caution:  Unpublishing a task list removes all tasks in the list from all teams that received them. They will lose all comments and any attachments they added.

If you need to unpublish a task list, it's best to do so as soon as possible to reduce the assignment and completion of tasks that are wiped out. An unpublished list moves to the Unpublished  section and can be duplicated but can't itself be republished.   

Confirm you want to unpublish the list, and then choose Unpublis h.

After the list appears under  Unpublished , you can delete it or duplicate it, edit the copy, and publish the edited copy.

 View reporting for published tasks

Track assignment and completion of published tasks.

After you publish a task list, you'll likely want to track teams' progress in assigning and/or completing the tasks you sent them. Select a list in the Published section. From here, you can view details for the published tasks in a few different ways. 

Note:  Users in your organization can view reporting for any team they're a part of. For example, a user who is part of the Store 100 team can view reporting for that location. A user who is part of Region 1 can see reporting for all locations reporting up to Region 1 in the hierarchy.

In either view, you can select any branch of the hierarchy to expand it or select any team to see the status for that specific team. To return to a high-level view after looking at the details, select the task list name that appears above the team name.

Note:  Everyone to complete lists (lists created using the For each team member option) show the reports in a slightly different presentation. These tasks are automatically assigned at creation time, so the report focuses on completion status. 

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[ uh - sahyn ]

verb (used with object)

to assign rooms at a hotel.

to assign homework.

to assign one to guard duty.

to assign a day for a meeting.

Synonyms: determine , fix

to assign a cause.

Synonyms: offer , show , advance , allege , adduce

to assign a contract.

• Military. to place permanently on duty with a unit or under a commander.

verb (used without object)

• Law. to transfer property, especially in trust or for the benefit of creditors.

my heirs and assigns.

to assign an expert to the job

to assign advertising to an expert

to assign a day for the meeting

to assign a stone cross to the Vikings

• to transfer (one's right, interest, or title to property) to someone else
• also intr law (formerly) to transfer (property) to trustees so that it may be used for the benefit of creditors
• military to allocate (men or materials) on a permanent basis Compare attach
• computing to place (a value corresponding to a variable) in a memory location
• law a person to whom property is assigned; assignee

Discover More

Derived forms.

• asˈsigner , noun
• asˈsignably , adverb
• asˌsignaˈbility , noun
• asˈsignable , adjective

Other Words From

• as·signer Chiefly Law. as·sign·or [ uh, -sahy-, nawr, as-, uh, -, nawr ] , noun
• misas·sign verb
• nonas·signed adjective
• preas·sign verb (used with object)
• preas·signed adjective
• reas·sign verb (used with object)
• self-as·signed adjective
• unas·signed adjective
• well-as·signed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of assign 1

Synonym Study

Example sentences.

It is designed to listen to meetings with multiple participants and will parse discussion patterns to produce informative synopses and assign post-meeting action items.

Such randomized, double-blinded controlled trials randomly assign patients to receive a drug or a placebo, and don’t reveal to participants or doctors who is getting which.

That AI could pore over an astronaut’s symptoms and then recommend medical tests, make diagnoses and assign treatments.

So I rose beyond cleaning, to working as an operational dispatcher for cabin services in the American Airlines traffic control center, assign cleaning crews to each incoming aircraft.

Ideally, the Mars spaceship would be equipped with artificial intelligence that could consider an astronaut’s symptoms, recommend medical tests, make diagnoses and assign treatments.

Now the Kremlin will assign more loyal people to rule the region, mostly military leaders.

When we assign a primitive “not me” status to another individual or social group, it can—and does—take us down a destructive path.

Other folks can debate and assign blame for “who lost Iraq.”

Renee Richardson knows she'll likely never be able to assign blame for her son's death—she's done fighting for that.

Girls are directed through several pages of this until they are asked to assign the guy a series of pre-decided adjectives.

The designs of Russia have long been proverbial; but the exercise of the new art of printing may assign them new features.

With what honest pride did John Smith, the best farmer of them all, step to the fore and assign to each man his place!

If the lessee die, his executor or administrator can assign the remainder of his term.

As the lessee may assign or sublet unless forbidden, so may the lessor part with his interest in the leased premises.

If offered any dish of which you do not wish to partake, decline it, but do not assign any reason.

Related Words

Synonyms of assignment

• as in lesson
• as in appointment
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Thesaurus Definition of assignment

Synonyms & Similar Words

• responsibility
• undertaking
• requirement
• designation
• appointment
• authorization
• installment
• installation
• destination
• emplacement
• investiture
• singling (out)

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• dethronement

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun assignment contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of assignment are chore , duty , job , stint , and task . While all these words mean "a piece of work to be done," assignment implies a definite limited task assigned by one in authority.

When is it sensible to use chore instead of assignment ?

While the synonyms chore and assignment are close in meaning, chore implies a minor routine activity necessary for maintaining a household or farm.

When is duty a more appropriate choice than assignment ?

Although the words duty and assignment have much in common, duty implies an obligation to perform or responsibility for performance.

When might job be a better fit than assignment ?

The synonyms job and assignment are sometimes interchangeable, but job applies to a piece of work voluntarily performed; it may sometimes suggest difficulty or importance.

When could stint be used to replace assignment ?

In some situations, the words stint and assignment are roughly equivalent. However, stint implies a carefully allotted or measured quantity of assigned work or service.

When can task be used instead of assignment ?

The meanings of task and assignment largely overlap; however, task implies work imposed by a person in authority or an employer or by circumstance.

Thesaurus Entries Near assignment

assignments

Cite this Entry

“Assignment.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/assignment. Accessed 3 Jul. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on assignment

Nglish: Translation of assignment for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of assignment for Arabic Speakers

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