• Why are we hesitant to delegate? Perhaps because we think we can do it better than anyone else. We understand best what we want and the results we are looking for, and truth is, sometimes we are “best” at it. But to grow and have time to enjoy your life, you must learn to delegate effectively.
• Avoid trying to be a perfectionist on the wrong things. It takes time, energy, effort and a process to delegate effectively.
• Why delegate? To facilitate the growth of your business, to leverage the great ideas and skills of others, to develop your team, and to be able to take time off from the business.
• “If you want to do a few small things, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.” – John C. Maxwell
• You will often get great ideas and input from those to whom you delegate.
• Three types of tasks to consider delegating: things you don’t like to do, what you are not good at, and tasks that don’t move your business forward or are not strategic.
• 4 Reasons to Delegate and Grow Your Business:
  1 – Get more done in less time.
  2 – Leverage the skills, strengths and great ideas of others.
  3 – Develop your team.
  4 – Build a small business you can sell.
• Delegation Worksheet (see link below): a tool that helps you delegate effectively. It helps improves communication, which is one of the keys to effective delegation. You can complete the worksheet or simply follow the steps when delegating.
• Be prepared for and expect that you will not always be successful on your first attempt at delegating a task.
• Once you delegate a task, be sure to let go of it and not take it back. If it’s not being executed correctly or efficiently, then re-train or delegate to someone else.
• Accountability is important. The person assuming the task must be responsible, and be held accountable, to owning the task.
• What tasks can you consider delegating today in your small business?
• The essentials of effective delegation for small business owners:
  • Understand and accept that your tendency and habit of controlling everything can keep you from being able to delegate effectively.
  • You may also want to hang on to everything because it makes you feel valuable or needed by the business and your team.
  • You must learn to surrender the ownership and responsibility to the person or team you are delegating to.
  • But surrendering does not mean that you don’t hold people accountable for performing their duties and responsibilities. As the saying goes: trust but verify! How will you follow-up and verify, or audit, that the tasks has been completed?
  • Get started with low-value activities to learn how to delegate.

If you want to grow your business, and if you want to perhaps sell your small business someday – then learning how to let go and delegate is crucial to achieving your goals as a small business owner. It’s not easy for most of us, it’s a skill we have to develop. But if you agree that it’s critical to the success of your small business, and to allowing you to begin realizing the benefits of being your own boss, then we encourage you to begin applying the methods and tools shared with on this episode to get started.

Resources:

Tools mentioned in this episode:

• Delegation Worksheet – Use this worksheet tool to help you delegate effectively.
• 4 Reasons to Delegate – learn more about why should get better at delegation to help you grow your small business.

Delegation Worksheet Instructions:

This Delegation Worksheet is designed to help you effectively and efficiently delegate tasks within your business. Successful delegation requires clear communication. By communicating (in writing) the details of the task being delegated, you significantly reduce misunderstandings and increase accountability. It may take a little longer initially to delegate a task using this technique, but it will result in greater success and less overall time spent having to explain it again or recovering from mistakes later.

Delegation is a process. It begins with a clear definition of the task to be delegated. After describing it, in writing, you will need to properly train the person or team assuming this task. After training for the task is completed, then the task is officially delegated. The process is not complete, however, without first conducting follow-up reviews to make sure the task is being executed correctly and efficiently. The Delegation Worksheet includes instructions for each field on the form.

Other Podcast Episodes:

Time Management & Productivity Episodes

Episode 026: Delegation

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