Here’s my take on effective delegation, as announced in last week’s piece about maintaining a good service to all your clients as you get busy.

Every business needs a range of experts, from finance and admin to marketing and strategy. In the beginning, you need to be your own executive board, making decisions by balancing the various different needs and goals of the business.

But if you are a start-up, you should do these tasks with one eye on the future, and the future is delegation. If your intention is to grow your business, eventually you have to start to let go of some of the routine work so you can concentrate your time on revenue-building alone.

Unless you have superpowers or are prepared to work from dawn to dusk, there is no other option. It’s simply bad business to spend an afternoon wrestling with your bookkeeping instead of spending it networking or going the extra mile for an important client.

In business, time is your most precious, limited resource. Whether you charge by the hour or not, it’s too valuable to waste.

Getting the hang of delegation early on enables you to build a team around you who can grow with you. That means, as you get busier and more successful, you will never get overwhelmed. Finally, it’s how you play your part in the local business world – giving business to others makes the world go round!

So how do you delegate well?

1. Assess what you should be delegating. Start with the jobs you hate, the jobs you don’t do very well or the time-consuming tasks that don’t directly contribute to your revenue
2. Take your time choosing the right people. Ask for recommendations, keep your eyes peeled when you’re networking, and when you’ve found someone, feel free to test the water by using a trial period
3. Often we don’t want to delegate because it seems easier doing it ourself. That is actually true – but only in the beginning. So be prepared to go through that pain barrier of training, answering questions, working through mistakes and helping your ‘delegatee’ gain familiarity. Believe me, the relief when it’s all up and running is well worth it.
4. Finally, let them take control of the tasks that are now theirs. They will have their own style, it won’t be yours – but to grow successfully, you need a range of different approaches on your team. Give them their freedom and you will benefit from it in the long run.

Do you need help with delegation? Drop me a line or leave a comment below.