Plenty of small business owners hold onto tasks for way too long. They fail at properly delegating task which cause wasted energy that could be spent in other areas of their business. Let’s talk about why it matters, and how to delegate tasks so everyone in the business benefits.
What is delegation?
Delegation is handing off responsibility to a trusted party in order to complete a task. Effective delegation involves the business owner to pair the right task with the right person, as well as set an expectation for performance, and give that person the room to make the correct decisions to complete the work required.
Small business owners are used to wearing a lot of hats, and doing a range of different roles in your business. However, as the business scales there comes a time when you’ll need to hand off some responsibilities to others for the sake of your business.
Benefits of delegating work.
· Enhances trust with your team
· Allows you to focus on more strategic task
· Reduce your stress levels
· Helps you develop a successor to take over your job task
· Task may be better suited for someone else’s skill set, so let them shine
How to delegate work.
1. Make a decision on what task to delegate. You’ll want to look over your task and decide which parts someone else can handle. Even if it calls for training, as a leader you will be able to remain in charge of important aspects of strategy setting so day- to-day task are handled my someone else. Pay attention to task that are regularly repeated, you’ll be able to save time over a long period of time.
2. Make a decision who to delegate task to. This could actually be the most important step of them all. For people who find delegation difficult it’s probably because they are too controlling. You want to choose someone that gets excited about the task that you want to give them. Figure out who is looking for more responsibility or growth. Also keep in mind their skill set or interest. You want the person you select to look at the task you want to give them as an opportunity and not as a burden.
3. Get the buy-in. So you have decided who will be handling the task, and now it’s time you let them know. This is a critical step. The key to delegating task correctly is making sure the person is on board. Don’t just explain the task but also why it’s important, and why you selected them to handle the task. Make sure you get a clear confirmation that they have accepted the task.
4. Make sure they are successful. The way you handover the task is a critical step. Explain your expectations are with the task, include performance, deadlines, and output. You have to remember, people can’t read your mind. So ask if they will need anything that you have not included so there is no room for confusion. You will also want to ask the level of support they will need in the beginning. Some people will want to fly solo, but others may want more support while they get a handle on things. Match the engagement style of the person completing the task and check-in when needed so they know they are fully supported.
5. Leave time for feedback. It’s sometimes a good idea to assume things won’t go exactly right at first. This only means that there may be a slight learning curve with the new responsibility. Give adequate feedback to your delegate’s so that they can understand what you’re looking for as well as helps them understand the task better.
6. Decide what task to delegate next. Delegation is an ongoing process. Leaders should always be looking for ways to create space throughout your workday. We’re sure you have tasks that deserve your attention versus other task that needs to be handled by others.
Not delegating task you create a culture of dependency. If your employees are not able to carry out tasks and make decision on their own, they will become dissatisfied. Keep in mind that handing over task includes vendors that you may work with as well. When establishing an effective video marketing campaign, you may want to delegate the video production task to a company like Remarkable VI Studios that specialize in this type of work.
How you delegate is just as important as what you delegate. Make sure your process is strong, that will make sure task gets done at a high level.
What task can you delegate to others?