Delegate? If you want something done right, just do it yourself! Doing it all yourself only works when there are a reasonable amount of tasks to complete each day. But when you are running an entire business, and you are the sales manager, the customer service manager, the HR manager, the marketing manager, the content creator, etc., it can easily be overwhelming and frustrating when you find yourself hangry because you skipped lunch again!
Delegating is hard because sometimes managers and business owners expect employees to just do things without training or communication. Delegating is also difficult because it forces business owners to relinquish control. We encourage you to be like Elsa and let that go!
Know What to Delegate
A lot of managers and business owners may have difficulty determining what to delegate when their task list is so long, and they have no clue where to start. Business owners may not enjoy performing certain tasks, but that does not mean it qualifies as something that can be delegated. Here are a few tips to help you determine what is best to delegate:
- Low-priority tasks that are not considered part of core business functions
- Less important tasks that will take up too much time
- Tasks that your team can do better
- Tasks that you want your team to learn
- Tasks that are involved with starting a process–think researching, data entry, etc.
- Tasks that you are not good at doing
Use Your Employees’ Strengths
It is important to gain knowledge and understanding of what each of your team members is great at doing, not that great at doing, loves to do, and does not love to do. If you, as a business owner or manager, have an in-depth understanding of your employee’s strengths and weaknesses, you will be better equipped to choose the best candidate to delegate a specific task to. You certainly do not want to delegate an accounting task to someone who does not like or does not know anything about accounting.
In addition, it is great to think about your employees’ goals in the workplace. If a sales representative has a goal of becoming a sales manager, then delegating more managerial-type tasks would be ideal to help them learn more about the role.
Define Expectations
Before someone starts working on a task or project that has been delegated to them, they should have a basic understanding of your expectations. What do they need to complete, and by when do they need to complete it? Providing vague instructions sets up your team for failure. If you do not communicate your expectations, the outcome may fall short.
Ensure to establish an open communication channel with the person you have delegated a task to. By establishing an open communication channel, you are creating an environment where team members feel comfortable asking questions and providing progress updates regarding their tasks. You make a big delegation mistake when you delegate a task but then do not monitor it. You cannot prevent mistakes from happening or receive regular updates to ensure they are on the right track.
Provide the Right Resources
Delegating is pretty useless without the right resources, so it is important that the person you are delegating a task to has the right permissions in software or adequate training to ensure the task can be completed. If the person you are delegating a task or project to needs specific training, resources, or authority to complete the project, you must provide all three.
It is also important to differentiate between delegating and training. Training aims to improve the employee’s performance or help them attain a required level of knowledge or skill. The goal of delegating is to reduce the workload of managers so they can focus on other tasks
Be Patient
Our biggest advice when delegating tasks to team members is to be patient when delegating. Do nit expect immediate results because that may not be the outcome, especially for employees new to the task. As you continue to delegate and employees become more familiar with the tasks, completing those tasks will only get faster and more efficient.
Additionally, be sure to allow for failure. This is particularly important for perfectionists who avoid delegating because they think their way is the best way to get work done. When delegating, focus on progress rather than perfection, and be patient with your team. Remember, you have more important things to get done instead.
Give Credit
An important step in successful delegation is to give credit where it is due. When you explicitly mention the names of employees who worked on specific tasks or projects with you, you boost company morale and increase the delegation’s success in the future. Employees will more likely help you on other projects in the future.
Deliver & Receive Feedback
A common misconception when delegating is thinking you are done after the task or project is completed. Keep in mind that you want to encourage delegation in the future, so it is important to fine-tune your process of delegating.
First, you want your team members to continue growing and developing more skill sets within your company. With this in mind, it is important to give them constructive feedback on how well they did and what they can improve in the future. Check out our blog post on constructive criticism to learn more about how to deliver constructive feedback effectively.
Second, you also want to improve your skills in delegating! Ask your employees if you provided clear instructions and enough resources to complete the task. Your goal is to learn how to better prepare the team members for future tasks and learn how to provide clearer instructions and training. Determine if there is anything you can do to delegate better in the future.
Delegating is a skill, and like any other skill, it takes some work and experience to master. Nevertheless, it is important to delegate when you are running a business because there truly are not enough hours in the day to do it all. We encourage business owners to make their businesses work for them, and the only way to do that is by utilizing a team of experts to help.
