Do you find yourself spending a lot of your time doing menial tasks that don’t help your business move forward?
The management consultant and author Peter Drucker once remarked that, when it comes to a company’s overall performance, the “bottleneck is always at the top of the bottle.”
As businesses grow, capacity can seem to disappear into thin air, and workloads increase far too quickly for decision-makers to handle. They’re often left struggling with systems and processes not designed to operate at the new level of capacity.
As you add new people to the company, learning how to put the right people in the right seats is one of the most valuable skills you can develop as a leader and a manager.
Doing so will enable you to delegate effectively. In a sense, buying back your capacity will allow you to personally grow and let you focus on doing what you do best while freeing the company up for growth.
Unfortunately, many leaders try to hold onto too much for too long and have trouble delegating and growing. They often think that the short-term investment in just “doing it ourselves” will save us time and energy.
When the right people are in place and have the correct resources to enable success, the long-term value you can create is exponential.
If you want to lead sustainable growth in your business, you will need to master the skill of delegation.
Here are some important tips when it comes to effective delegation:
1. Let go. Delegation is hard, especially for business owners who are used to doing things themselves and are hesitant to give responsibility to others. If you’re a sole proprietor or the owner of a very small business, it can be doubly hard, especially if you’re concerned about the cost of bringing someone on to handle the tasks that are zapping your Quadrant 2 tasks, those quality time tasks like business planning, budgeting, investing in important relationships, etc.
But whatever is standing in your way—whether it’s a mental or financial hurdle—do whatever it takes to overcome it. Because no business can become truly successful without delegation.
2. Empower your employees; don’t command them. When you’ve got a problem or task that’s taking too much of your time, ask your employees’ feedback before you decide on a solution. Listen to them. Sometimes, you’ll end up doing what you’d planned all along; other times, they’ll surprise you with their ingenuity and problem-solving skills. Either way, asking them for input empowers them and gives them a feeling of ownership over the assignment.
3. Decide upon benchmarks and results in advance. Don’t prescribe the manner in which the work must be done; everyone is different. Instead, delegate according to benchmarks and results that are agreed upon in advance, and hold people accountable to perform based on the agreement. Give employees as much flexibility as possible to do it their way, as long as the end result is satisfactory.
4. Provide your people with the resources they need. Make sure you supply your employees with the information, technology, and tools they need to hit the agreed-upon objectives and marks. Be receptive and open if they let you know they need something more.
5. Be patient. Like everyone else, people will make mistakes, especially as they’re learning a new job or task. Be patient. Establish realistic expectations and be as positive and affirming as possible during the learning curve period.
START NOW. Decide on at least three tasks you can delegate to others. Then do it! And free yourself up to tackle the higher-leveraged tasks that you know you should be working on with greater regularity.
If you find yourself struggling to “let go”, get in touch with me. I’ve helped many business owners master the skill of delegation and free up their time to work on the tasks they know they need to be working on if their business is to grow.
I invite you to book a 15-minute call to discuss business coaching. You can book a complimentary 15-minute call with me at www.TimeWithShane.com.
