I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had clients tell me that they don’t like to delegate because they’ve tried it before, and it just doesn’t work for them.
And yet, these are often the same entrepreneurs who are struggling under the weight of all of the tasks on their plate.
They feel like they can never catch up, they feel like they can never take a day or a week off from their business, and they’re always struggling to understand why their team members aren’t helping them more.
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The Truth About Delegating
While delegation might not feel like it comes naturally, it doesn’t mean that it should be completely avoided – especially if you’re a business owner that’s looking to grow, and eventually to scale your business.
Delegation is just like any new skill; it’s something that can be learned, it can be developed, it can be practiced, and can be done really effectively when we put in the time and energy to learn how to do it well.
John Maxwell has said, “If you want to do a few small things right, do it yourself. If you want to do great things that make a big impact, learn to delegate.”
There is only so far you can muscle along your growth before you’ll run out of time, energy, and margin, and if scaling is in your plans, building an effective team is absolutely essential.
3 Delegation Personalities
When it comes to delegating, I think there are three main personality types that tend to stick out.
1. The Micromanager
This is someone who hands off tasks to a team member and then consistently looks over their shoulder, constantly interrupting, correcting, and not allowing the new task owner to learn experientially.
2. The Abdicator
In this case, the business owner will package up all the tasks they no longer want to do, and drop them in a team members’ lap – with no guidance, support, or communication of expectations.
When you’ve established a good working relationship with others, you can eventually get to the point where you can have this kind of relationship, where you can quickly hand off tasks and know they’ll be done through to completion.
But starting off your delegating relationship with a team member in this fashion is never going to work out the way that you want it to.
3. The Hoarder
This business owner is usually fine with hiring team members to help take the strain off of them, but then they don’t really utilize the team’s time and skills to actually free up any of the pressure.
They commonly fall back into the trap of “Well, it’s faster if I just do it myself.” And this leads to the business owner still frantically working long hours while their team feels underutilized, frustrated, and barely having enough work to fill their days.
So many entrepreneurs started out their businesses as solopreneurs. And, as great as it is that they’ve been involved in all aspects of the business and know how to do all of the different roles, one of the downsides is, it becomes extremely difficult to give up ownership of some of the tasks when it’s something that you’ve always done.
It’s so important to remember that just because you can do something, it doesn’t mean that you should be doing it.
As you more fully step into the role of CEO in your business, it becomes more and more important that you prioritize the tasks that only you can do, and allow others on your team to be able to come in and really help pick up the slack.
How to Know What to Delegate
One easy way to do this is to complete a time tracking exercise. You can learn more about that in this blog post, but in essence, you want to take a close look at the things that could be delegated to people on your team.
Three important questions to ask are:
- What are the things you don’t want to be doing?
- What are the things you no longer have time to do?
- What are the things that you’re actually not the best at doing?
One of the most important things that you can do to set up your business for success when it comes to delegating, is establishing appropriate accountability. And as with most things, the best way to start delegating is with careful planning.
You want to identify very clearly what it is exactly that you want to delegate out, what done looks like for that particular task, and who in your team would best be suited to complete that task for you.
Understanding the outcome here is incredibly important, as, if you think that done looks like one thing, and the person you’ve delegated to thinks that done looks like something else, you are never going to be happy with the results.
What Needs to be in Place to Delegate
Next, you’ll need to ask yourself:
- What does that person need in order to complete the task?
- Do they need access to certain assets, or to certain people?
- Do they need a detailed step-by-step, or Standard Operating Procedures, to be able to complete the task in the way that you would want them to complete it?
- Is there some specific support that you could offer?
You’ll also want to be very clear about communicating the task or project details. This includes the due date of the project, the budget, and any additional information or resources that they might need in order to be able to complete it fully.
The Importance of Communication
Any time that you’re working with a team, communication is obviously of the utmost importance.
Be incredibly clear about how, and when, and why you will communicate. I
t’s so important to make sure everyone’s expectations are the same, so there’s no confusion down the road.
A really great way to be able to manage delegation is through the use of a project management tool.
You can read more about the importance of project management tools HERE , but this kind of tool is so helpful to manage your communication and the projects well, so no details get missed along the way.
How to Start Delegating
If you’re someone who has struggled with delegation in the past, or it’s something that’s very hard or scary for you, I’d really encourage you to start out with something small.
This is not the time to take an entire department of your company, and drop it on someone else’s plate.
Start with something that’s not incredibly critical to the operations of your business, and build up your comfort level and trust with that person.
Expect that some mistakes will be made, and clear and supportive communication will help your team members to be able to move towards the type of results you’re expecting.
This will also give you a great opportunity to update your workflows so everyone has complete clarity.
When delegation doesn’t work out, it usually comes down to a lack of communication, and a mismatch of expectations.
Levels of Delegation
It’s also important to remember there’s different levels of delegation.
One of the best explanations I’ve heard of these levels is from Michael Hyatt, who identifies five levels of delegation. You can read his full blog post HERE, but here are the five levels he outlines:
- Do as I say
- Research and report
- Research and recommend
- Decide and inform
- Act independently
So the next time that you’re looking to delegate a task, look back over those five levels, and see what stage you’re at in terms of trust and confidence, and communicate effectively there.
The ultimate goal is to be continually working up to a higher level, thus freeing up more and more of your time, and expanding the impact that your company can have.
I trust that you found this helpful, and maybe have reframed delegation for you a bit. If it’s something that you struggle with as a business owner, please know that you’re not alone.
As you build and strengthen your skills in this area, your business really will reap the rewards, and your team will just get stronger and stronger.
And I’d love to hear in the comments, What’s the first thing that you did, or will delegate?
