You can't do
everything yourself. And the bigger your business grows, the truer this
becomes. That's why it's so essential to master the art of
delegation. Delegating the day-to-day work of your business frees you up
to think big, cultivate relationships with clients, nail down new sources of
revenue, and do the things that only you can do.
Set your ego
aside. A big mental roadblock to delegation is that "If you want
something done right, then do it yourself." You're not the only
person in the world who can do it right. You may be the only
person who can do it right at this very moment, but if you take a few minutes
to download your needs to someone competent, they'll probably be able to
do it right, too. Who knows - they might even do it faster or better than you
(gasp!)
We all know
that we need to be good at delegating in order to have any traction in our
careers. We need to be able to learn how to do something and then teach someone
else how to do it, so that we can move on and learn how to do something new.
This is as true for creative people as it is for management types.
Yet even though
we know this, most of us have trouble actually doing it. Many people think
they’re the exception to the rule — that delegating is important, but in their
very unique, particular case, it’s impossible.
Newsflash: It’s never impossible to delegate
— it’s all in the mind of the delegator. Here are seven ways to get started on
the road to all-star delegation:
Get over your
perfectionist streak. The key
to delegating is recognizing that your ability to do things perfectly isn’t as
highly valued as you think it is. In fact, perfectionism isn’t
valuable in 80 percent of the work we do. If you think you’re the
exception to this rule — which all perfectionists do — consider that
perfectionism is so unhealthy that it’s a risk factor for depression. This
should make delegating come easier. Delegating can be scary, especially if
you are a perfectionist. Here are some tools to help you in the art of
delegation.
Use
Google Docs. It’s a great tool to record and share information about your
procedures, because you don’t need to worry if your team members have the
latest version. It updates real-time.
These days, we at Balance
InStyle use project management software called Basecamp
(you might also use Asana, Wrike or any other software you find helpful) Basecamp
makes it easy for people in different roles with different responsibilities to
communicate and work together. It’s a place to where my team share files, have
discussions, collaborate on documents, assign tasks, and check due dates.
Decide what’s most
important. In order
to figure out what to delegate, you need to figure out what’s most important to
your career. This means you need to know what your specialty is, what
you’re known for, and what your unique value is to the company. Anything that
falls outside this isn’t that important to you. Once you understand this,
delegating most things will be easier.
Trying
putting together a mind map (in a Mindmup ) all of the things that are
important for your career and where you can start to leverage help, maybe in
the form of a VPA. (Virtual Personal Assistant)
Here are
the Top Tasks You Can Delegate To Your VPA today:
Calendar – Setup a shared calendar and
let your VPA manage, schedule, and arrange your calendar. Allow your VPA to
handle the back-and-forth of setting up appointments. Most use Google calendar
which is great because when your VPA confirms a meeting it will sync directly
to your mobile device.
Email – It is a time waster. Allow
your VPA to filter out the small stuff, and prioritize inquiries so that you
only see the ones that need your attention. You can also setup a personal email
account for them on your business domain so it appears that they are in-house.
Track
Projects –
Managing projects, deadlines, and deliverables can be tough when you are busy.
Setup a common project platform so that you can share project status updates.
We use Basecamp to manage projects, and it too syncs directly to my iPhone
so another time saver, I can track on the go!
Invoicing – Invoicing is an important
task that many small businesses put off, yet it it crucial to operations. Let
your VPA send, track, and receive your business invoices. This is particularly
useful for small businesses or entrepreneurs. Let them manage your AR and call
clients on your behalf as well, that way you don't feel like you are hounding
the clients.
Research – Searching the web may seem
like a simple and quick task. However, it can be a major time sink when your
quick search turns into a multi-hour surfing session. Let you VPA do simple
research for you.
Expense
Reports – Another
paperwork project to delegate to your VPA is expense tracking. It seems to be a
generally hated task by all business people. Let your VPA organize your
expenses and receipts. It is easy to share receipt images and documents via
Dropbox or an expense app or even Basecamp.
Travel – People don’t like to give
up control of travel. But, how long do you waste looking at flights to get just
the right one? Let your VPA book your travel and use a system such as TripIt or
Trip Case to
sync your itinerary to your mobile device and calendars.
Proofreading – It doesn’t matter how many
times you proofread that presentation; you are still going to overlook the
typo. Let your VPA be a second set of eyes on all types of documents. Maybe
you've run out of time of creative juices; let your VPA explore other options
to your creative writing block.
If you
want more time for yourself, maybe it’s time you explore the art of delegation
and hire a VPA of your own.
Remember: reluctance to give up control of
tasks is probably a sign that you need some
assistance. In many cases, a VPA can perform your administrative tasks
faster, better, and more effectively than you can.
Delegate, delegate, delegate.
