Outsourcing is a good idea for repetitive, mundane, day-to-day business tasks including IT, marketing, payroll, accounting and employee benefits. Also for specialised tasks such as customer research, marketing collateral creation (logos, business cards, etc), advertising graphics, website creation, content creation, content promotion, lead magnet production, SEO and so on.

Delegation is a strategic decision where the objective is to develop an employee or partner, someone to provide feedback and help improve the business through optimising processes.

Why Delegate?

Why delegate? Well, one of the common pressures on most executives is TIME. There is never enough time to do all the things that have to be done or are expected of you. Right? Delegation, and doing it properly, allows you to:

1. Focus on the bigger rocks – the more important priorities
2. Deliver better value for your available time
3. Allows you to scale up and leverage your business
4. Eventually reduces your workload!!

So why don’t we delegate more often? How often have I heard these sort of reasons/excuses. “Oh, it takes so much effort upfront to get it sorted”…” I’ve had a bad experience delegating in the past so I gave up”…”Only I know all the information, so best if I do it – it will be quicker that way”. Do they sound familiar? Can you relate?

What to Delegate?

If you are serious about scaling your business and giving yourself more time to do the more crucial things for your business, then ask yourself these key questions:

1. Is there someone else who has the information or expertise – or can be given it – to complete the task?
2. Does it provide the opportunity to grow and develop someone else?
3. Do you have the time to delegate the task effectively?
4. Is this a task that will recur, in a similar form, in the future?
5. Is this a task that I should delegate? Tasks critical for longterm-success genuinely do need your attention.

Who to Delegate to?

If you answer YES to the above, then the next step is deciding WHO to delegate to. Ask yourself:

1. Do they have the experience, knowledge and skills to complete the task?
2. What is the current workload of the person? Do they have the time? Will delegating a task needs to reshuffle other responsibilities?
3. What is the individual’s preferred work style? How independent are they? What do they want from the job? What are their aspirations and does this align with them?

10 Principles to Effective Delegation

Follow these 10 Key Principles to delegate effectively.

2. Clearly identify constraints and boundaries. Where are the lines of authority, responsibility and accountability?

3. Where possible, include people in the delegation process.
Empower them to decide what tasks are to be delegated to them and when.

4. Match the amount of responsibility with the amount of authority. Understand that you can delegate some responsibility, however, you can’t delegate away ultimate accountability. The buck stops with you!

5. Delegate to the lowest possible organizational level. The people who are closest to the work are best suited for the task because they have the most intimate knowledge of the detail of everyday work. This also increases workplace efficiency and helps to develop people.

6. Provide adequate support, and be available to answer questions. Ensure the project’s success through ongoing communication and monitoring as well as provision of resources and credit.

7. Focus on results. Concern yourself with what is accomplished, rather than detailing how the work should be done: Your way is not necessarily the only or even the best way! Allow the person to control his or her own methods and processes. This facilitates success and trust.

8. Avoid “upward delegation.” If there is a problem, don’t allow the person to shift responsibility for the task back to you: ask for recommended solutions, and don’t simply provide an answer.

9. Build motivation and commitment. Discuss how success will impact financial rewards, future opportunities, informal recognition, and other desirable consequences. Provide recognition where deserved.

10. Establish and maintain control. – Discuss timelines and deadlines.

– Agree on a schedule of checkpoints at which you’ll review project progress.
– Make adjustments as necessary.
– Take time to review all submitted work.

In thoroughly considering these key points prior to and during the delegation process you will find that you delegate more successfully.

For more help with effective delegation, contact me for a no-obligation, no-cost, discussion.