If you want your business to grow, then you have to trust others - Delegation

You have heard it a million times – There is no “I” in TEAM. Well, that old adage is so well-worn because it is undeniably true. Good delegation helps you to work On your business rather than working in it.

No small business can flourish when an owner or manager insists on performing all of the important duties themselves. One of the most important keys to success is building a strong team of support players, and then delegating wisely.

By effectively delegating the work, you can reduce stress while building a stronger and more reliable crew of employees. But, it is important to remember that you simply cannot delegate tasks haphazardly. There is a right way and a wrong way to delegate in the workplace. Here, we take a look at how to delegate workplace tasks effectively, so your business has the best chance to succeed.

Training Comes Before Delegating

Before you can trust an employee to handle a certain task, you need to provide that employee with the training necessary to handle that task. You cannot expect an employee to complete the task successfully if he is not trained in how to do it, so training needs to be an essential part of your workplace if you want to have well-rounded employees who are capable of handling a variety of tasks.

Understanding the Three Concepts of Delegation

Delegation, when done properly, follows three core concepts – responsibility, authority, and accountability.

Responsibility – When an employee is delegated a task, the desired result needs to be clearly delivered so they know exactly what is expected of them. This does not imply that you should direct them how to accomplish the results, but only what their responsibility is to the task’s completion.

You are, in other words, trusting that they will produce the desired results in a way that works for them.

Authority – When a task is delegated, sometimes parts of that task may require a certain authority in order for them to be completed, like approving a business purchase or transaction. It is important to note that while you are giving the employee the authority necessary to complete that particular task, there may be certain boundaries that they need to stay within as well.

There may be budget restraints the employee needs to keep in mind, or some other type of criteria they need to be aware of. This information needs to be clearly presented to the employee in order to help minimize potentially costly mistakes.

Accountability – Whoever is delegating the job task needs to understand that ultimately, they are the one who will be held accountable for the task’s completion. Although the job is doing performed by another employee, it is the manager’s responsibility to make sure they are following protocol, and that the job is completed on time and as directed.

Delegating Is Different Than Assigning a Task

It is important for both managers and employees to recognize the difference between delegating a task, and assigning a task. When you assign an employee a task, it is usually a job that is within the duties and responsibilities of his or her job title.

But, when you “delegate” a task to an employee, that task is usually a job that the manager would otherwise have to do. This involves giving the employee the authority to perform this particular task, which comes with higher level of responsibility.

Understandably, in some situations, an employee may feel as if the manager is “dumping” a job on him that the manager just does not feel like dealing with. It is important for you, or the manager, to make sure the employee does not feel this way by recognising them in some way for a job well done.

Letting go is so hard to do. It’s a known fact that most small business owners (myself included) start businesses trying to do everything on our own. What usually ends up happening is that we get burned out in the process.

For the longest time, I ran around like a headless chicken with a “Superman” cape on until I came to the realisation that I needed help. I realised that I needed to “work on my business and not in it”. Eventually, little by little I started delegating tasks to others.

Why Should You Delegate Responsibilities in Your Business?

The “one-man band” strategy might be a great way to save money at first, but it’s not the smartest way to grow your business and will not lead to success in the long run.

If you are at a point in your business where you want to start assigning and outsourcing tasks to others, here are 15 things that you can delegate:

1. Social Media Marketing – Management of your social media pages and platforms (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook)

2. Web Design and Development – via Small Business Sense (Yep, that’s right, I am now helping small business owners build websites for their companies). More details are forthcoming.

3. Marketing - Social media marketing, internet marketing, offline marketing

4. Promotional and Advertisement Material Designs – Creating business cards, stationery, logo, brochures, door hangers, etc

5. Customer Service - Resolving customer complaints, handling issues, giving information on product and service inquiries

6. Bookkeeping – Maintaining your company’s financial records and preparing financial records

7. Computer Support - Repairing your computer systems,maintaining your systems

8. Market Research – Target market research , demographics, scoping out the competition, trends in your industry

9. Social Media Profile Designs – Creating designs for your Twitter, Facebook and other social media profiles

10. Accounting - Tax preparation, analyzing financial statements

11. Administrative Tasks – Making phone calls to customers, scheduling appointments, managing your calendar

12. Data Entry – Entering customer information into your CRM’s and databases

13. Lead Generation – Creating free educational guides and whitepapers, press releases, eBook creation

14. Travel Arrangements - Flight reservations,hotel reservations

15. Email Management – Checking your email, managing your inbox, sorting email

A Few Tips for Delegating Tasks…

• Give a trial task or project to candidates before you hire and assign bigger projects to them.

• Create detailed job descriptions for the tasks that you want to delegate and outsource.

• After selecting the right candidate for your project, communicate with them frequentl. A mistake that is easilmade in the beginning phases of delegating and outsourcing tasks is that managers do not communicate enough with the new staff. When you hire someone to work with your business, checking in with them frequently will help avoid any confusion with your assignment and ensures that your tasks are completed on time.

The Business Minder from Mind Ur Bisnis operates in Singapore and Bali.