Tips For Delegating With Ease
The reason most people delegate is pretty obvious, to save time! But did you know that delegating has other benefits? One of the benefits is that the person or people that take over your tasks will learn and develop new skills. Typically this will motivate them to work harder and become more engaged and excited about what they are doing. Another benefit is that delegating lets you focus on more important items that you may be putting off and will also free up your mind so you can develop new ideas or discover ways to improve and/or grow your business!
Delegating isn’t always easy. It definitely comes more naturally to some people while others struggle with letting go. The main reason people hesitate to delegate is fear that the task won’t be done right. It’s ok to monitor the work that is done in the beginning to make sure mistakes aren’t made or if they are made, they are corrected. Just make sure the monitoring doesn’t become a long-term habit. At that point it becomes micromanaging which doesn’t save you any time at all. Another reason people won’t delegate is because they think that it’s easier and/or quicker to just handle the task themselves. While this may be somewhat true in the short term, it’s important to look at the long-term benefits in the situation. Of course it may take you a little longer to show someone how to do it than to actually complete the task. Let’s be realistic; there’s always a learning curve. But after taking a little extra time to train that person that task is no longer yours to complete…ever. That’s time you get back every time the other person completes the task for you.
There are steps you can take to make delegation as smooth as possible. My first suggestion is documenting clear instructions. The more details you can document the easier it will be for someone else to take over your tasks confidently. A training or processes and procedures document will also be a useful tool for the person taking over if they have questions or need to refresh themselves on what needs to be done. It keeps them from asking you and taking up more of your time. Another must when delegating is clear communication. That includes communicating what the task is, your expectations and preferences for how the task or tasks should be completed. The more clear you are from the very beginning, the easier the entire process will be.
There are specific professional tasks that are easier to delegate or outsource than others. Your repetitive tasks are the best ones to start with. Things like posting on social media, running reports, sourcing leads or potential customers, entering payments or following up on unpaid invoices, entering expenses and ordering supplies. Other things you can delegate with more ease include tedious tasks that you don’t enjoy but have to be done. These tasks are typically simple and don’t require a lot of brain power. This includes things like deleting the junk emails from your inbox, opening and sorting your mail, filing paperwork, running errands and transcribing messages. There are also things you can delegate on an as-needed basis. Some examples of as-needed or project based tasks include creating presentations, creating meeting agendas, sending personalized handwritten notes or cards and ordering gifts. There are tons of other things that can be delegated but these tasks are easier to transition to someone else.
There are some things that you should avoid delegating. For example any one-time or non-repetitive tasks that would take hours to explain but less than an hour for you to do yourself. Or any tasks that would require you to share information that must remain confidential. Lastly any tasks that require a degree of risk and/or decision making that could cause big problems in your business if done incorrectly.
If you're still not sure delegating will be beneficial, start small by delegating one thing at a time. Once you get started you’ll see the benefits and it will make you more comfortable delegating other things on your to-do list. When in doubt just remember that trying to do everything yourself can lead to exhaustion, burnout, poor quality of work, missed deadlines and many other negative consequences. If you want to learn more or need assistance with delegating, YourChoice Concierge can help. They will help you identify and organize your to-dos so that you’re working efficiently and effectively!