“Delegation requires the willingness to pay for short term failures in order to gain long term competency.” – Dave Ramsey
No one said delegation is easy.
In fact, it’s hard and a little scary. BUT…. it’s a critical ingredient to every successful business and business OWNER if they want to keep their sanity.
So many times it’s easier to just “do it yourself” rather than take the time to train someone… especially for seemingly small and insignificant tasks.
The thing is… all of these “small tasks” add up in a BIG way. (email / data entry / updating billing / posting on your fan page / etc.)
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been sharing my systems for delegation. In case you missed them, here you go:
Part 1: My #1 Rule for Delegation
Part 2: The Who, What, When, Why, & How of Delegation
Read those FIRST if you haven’t already.
On to Part 4: Tips & Tricks That Will Change Your Life…so let’s dive right in!
#1. Don’t Micro-Manage. Having someone that hangs over your shoulder watching every single move is nerve-racking and causes anxiety. You have GOT to trust your team.
If you’ve done a great job hiring and training your staff… and you have your checks and balances in place, then you have to have to let the reigns go a little and trust them to do their jobs.
In fact… INCREDIBLE team members aren’t developed by training them to become little robots. They are developed when they have room to grow, and have space for creativity and self-expression.
The best team members are developed when they have a sense of pride and ownership in their role. THIS is a different level of leadership.
#2. Mistakes WILL Be Made. That’s ok. It’s not the fun part, but it’s a part of the path to freedom. You don’t want your team walking on eggshells and being afraid to mess up.
That’ll do nothing but cause high-turnover, negative attitudes, anxiety, and probably even end up causing more mistakes!
Keep open communication so they always know it’s ok and they can come to you (or their manager).
Ya know what else- it might even be YOU that made the mistake! Go back to Part 1: My #1 Rule.
Mistakes = Opportunity For Growth (for both you and your team).
#3. Never Make Assumptions. You’ve heard this before, right? When you “assume” you make and “ass” out of “u” and “me”!?
You can’t ever expect your team to know what’s going on in that entrepreneurial brain of yours.
We THINK differently than everyone else…. there is no way that anyone can figure out exactly what we want unless we’re first CLEAR on what we want.
Unless you had it in your job description, your team members will not be able to read your mind.
Go back and read Part 2 for more on how to clarify what you want.
#4. Be Realistic. You have a work output like a racehorse. Most people don’t. If they could think like you and work like you….then they would likely DO what you do, right?
Be patient. Set clear and realistic goals. Take the time to train them properly.
If I don’t have a specific deadline I need to meet, one of my favorite things I ask my admin is… (especially when it’s a new task)… is “when do you think you can have this done by?”
She will give me a solid idea of when she can have it completed. If I agree, we set the deadline. If I don’t and we’re not on the same page, we’ll go over the breakdown again of the task.
Making sure you’re on the same page as your team will save a TON of headaches along the way.
#5. Check In On Their Sanity OFTEN. This one is big for me. I used to overload my admin to the brim. I didn’t even realize this was even happening, because she didn’t want to disappoint me and kept saying “yes”.
However when things started slipping through the cracks, I realized I was the one to blame.
Sure, she could have said something sooner- but I should have done a better job checking in to see how she was managing her workload and stress.
Now I regularly ask my team- how are you doing with X,Y,Z. Do you feel like you’re able to get everything done? You feel like you’re taking on too much? (I do this at least once a month)
These questions show your team you truly care about them and want to make sure they feel empowered to do the best job possible.
Hope this helps you in your business when it comes to delegation!!
As always, if I can help in any way, just reply back to this email.
Make it a productive day,
Alicia
P.S. If you’re interested in taking things to the next level and want to start prepping to make 2018 the BEST YEAR that you’ve ever had in business, hop on over to Fit Pro Accelerator and schedule a call with me to see if it’s a good fit!
