18 Feb Why You Need To Delegate!
Delegating is too hard, it’s easier to just do the thing myself!
How many times have you said or thought that before? Well trust me, it’s actually not as difficult as you might think!
For many business owners, particularly women, we feel such a sense of responsibility that delegating feels like we are shirking or palming off our duties (aka the biz version of mum guilt) but that’s not the case at all! You need to stop listening to that annoying voice that is making you feel guilty or the even more annoying one that is trying to convince you that you are Wonder Woman and can do everything by yourself.
It’s this kind of thinking that leads to stress and eventually, burn out. And then what would happen?! I once heard a wise theory that went something along the lines of if you have a breakdown, it takes a team of people to run your life again – home help, teachers, cleaners, friends, family, coworkers, the list goes on! So if it takes a team to run your life when you can’t, what makes you think that you can do it alone? I had never thought of it like that before but it’s true. And you know what else, you wouldn’t be able to watch their every move or instruct them how you like every little thing done. And even more miraculously, it would still get done! Mouths would be fed, bills would get paid and work would be completed. All without your micromanaging!
But back to delegating and how to do it well…. The best way to ease yourself into handing over some responsibilities is to start small. This allows both you and your assistant to discover their abilities and to build up trust. Once you have seen that the world will not end when someone else does something, it’s time to think a little bigger….
Write a list of everything you need to get done that day, week, month or even permanently and the put a column next to it. Immediately after writing it, place your future assistant’s name next to EVERYTHING that they could possibility complete for you. Now you may be thinking that your budget won’t allow for you to hire someone for that amount of time and that’s fine, this way, you will know how much you need to budget for in the future to be able to work at optimum capacity and efficiency.
This process will also give you a good indication on not only their position but what other areas of your business that you may need help with. And too, you will be hiring based on skills and tasks, not a role that may narrow down how they can support you.
Always over delegate and leave yourself as little as possible, being the head honcho, you will be the one that has to deal with emergencies, urgencies and anything else that pops up along the way.
Remember, delegating is a good thing! For you, your business and your assistant. They cannot grow until you give them the opportunity to experience things outside their normal duties but it’s not just about skills, it’s also about showing them that you trust them and empowering them to take initiative in the future.
Delegating and training may take effort in the beginning but running a business is long term and this is one investment of time that will pay dividends for you time and time again.
For a quick idea of some of the tasks that your assistant may be able to start with, check this out!
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