One of the many things I help entrepreneurs with is delegation and how to become an effective delegator. If you are like many of my clients they started a business with little to no business skills. Things began to get busy and they were told “You need to hire,” and so they did. Then came the tricky part … delegating tasks.
To be an effective delegator, there are a few things you need to consider … read on to learn what they are.
First You Need to Understand Your Needs
The first step in any change in life and/or business is knowing exactly what you need and/or want. It is important to both assess what you need and want and if you have the necessary skills to be an effective delegator.
- Do you know what it is you need help with?
- Do you work well in a management role?
- Do you know who you work well with?
Way too often entrepreneurs know they need help, they just don’t know what exactly to delegate. The answer is actually easy. What do you not like doing? What is falling behind? What tasks don’t require you?
Then ask yourself, are you a manager? Do you need to take some courses or read some books on how to be an effective manager. I can tell you one of the important steps in being an effective delegator is understanding what it takes to be an effective manager. Whatever you do, don’t be a micro-manager … more on that in a future article.
Also, ask yourself what personality types do you work well with? Again I will touch on that more in future articles. However, I will say right now, if you don’t take time to understand who you work well with within a team environment (and more importantly who you don’t) you and your team member will drive yourself crazy!
Is There Anything I Shouldn’t Delegate?
Believe it or not, there are a few things many experts would say you should never delegate. I believe there is one thing you should never delegate and that is you! You are the face of your business and you must continue to be the face. You are your very best advocate and no one will have the same passion and drive for your business as you.
Of course, you can have others assist you in this area with the tasks which maintain your presence, but remember to always keep yourself in the forefront of your business and remain the face of your business.
Some may disagree with me here and that’s okay. If your goal is to grow a global company and sell other people who will deliver your services or to sell products, this might not be applicable to you. However, if your business is you and built on relationships built with your clients, absolutely you MUST remain the face of your company! To which degree is totally up to you!
Do I Just Start?
Many delegation experts would tell you to create a priority list of tasks to delegate and then just start delegating them. I don’t know if this is always the best route to follow as I believe the most valuable delegation strategy for your business is to start small.
Ask yourself today “if there was one thing I could get off my plate what would it be?” Then take the plunge and delegate it. The important thing to remember is never to delegate simply to get something off your plate, but rather to delegate to open yourself to new possibilities.
Spend the time you would normally be spending doing this one thing on money-generating activities. As your income grows then go back to the same question, “if there was one thing I could get off my plate what would it be?” and continue until the answer is simply, “nothing.”
Now I’m Ready To Be An Effective Delegator
Now that you are ready to be an effective delegator, here are 3 simple tips to help you achieve this goal:
- Delegate outcomes and not tasks. What this means is share with the person why they are doing the task. What is the role of the task? What outcome will it provide for you? How does it play a role in the big picture?
- Have your processes and procedures documented. The easiest way to delegate is to be able to provide someone with step-by-step instructions of the task to be delegated. Take the time now and it will save you in training and delegation headaches later.
- Provide deadlines and set expectations upfront! Make sure the person you are delegating to understands when the project is to be completed and what the finished product/project should look like.
For more tips on how to delegate tasks, visit some of these other articles below: