When I first started my business, I was gung-ho. I was so excited at the new venture that I did everything—after all, it was my business!
This lasted for about 5 minutes (ok, maybe a few weeks) before I started feeling overwhelmed and behind? I was buried.
I then came to the realization that this was a pattern that I had followed my entire career, not only as an entrepreneur, but as a corporate leader. All my exuberance made it hard to keep up with what was important.
So I decided to handle it the same way I had as a corporate executive: I looked to delegation.
Delegation can help lighten your load, free up more time for yourself and enable you to focus on other aspects of your business. But what types of things should you delegate? Here is a framework for deciding what tasks you, as an entrepreneur, or as as corporate leader, should delegate.
- Delegate what you’re not good at. One of the traps that I fell into (and I know many of you are guilty of this as well) was that I believed I was the best at everything. Heck, I even made my own website because who else could get it right??? Note, that was several versions ago and all copies have been destroyed thoroughly. I spent hours/days/weeks putting together that first website, when a website professional would have spent seconds/minutes/hours and come up with something much better. Acknowledge your weaknesses and delegate to those that have strengths in those areas.
- Delegate when it’s not a priority. Earlier in my career as an executive (and repeated many times as an entrepreneur) I noticed many things that lingered on my task lists. They just never seemed to get checked off. They built up and built up until eventually someone might ask about it. What was going on? Well, those items just were not a priority to me. I could do them, but as I looked at what was important each day, those items never made the top of the list. As soon as I delegated these tasks to someone that made them a priority, they started getting done.
- Delegate to save time. As a business leader your time is very valuable, more valuable than you might think. Take a look at time consuming items on your list, especially the non-strategic ones, and consider delegating them. Do you really need to review each TPS report?
- Delegate to grow your business. At the end of the day, we are all here to grow our businesses. Take a look at the activities in your business, identify which are tied to growth and profitability, and consider delegating the remainder. And do this often, non-business growing activities tend to creep onto our lists regularly. It’s important to continually chase them off.
It is easy for an entrepreneur, or any business leader, to become overwhelmed by the chaotic nature of running your own shop. You might think that if you don’t do every task yourself, it will get done wrong. But trust me — delegating tasks is absolutely the key to success. Delegation will improve the bottom line of your organization, and will help you keep your sanity in the process!
Wade
P.S.
You’re overworked and feeling stretched thin. You’re doing everything yourself and it’s taking its toll.
When you delegate tasks to the right people, you’re freed up to focus on what you do best. And by learning how to delegate effectively, you’re one step closer to building a successful business—and having your time back.
With Aim To Win coaching, you will learn how to delegate and get your business humming. You will find that balance that you have been searching for. It is my passion to help you succeed!
Sign up for your FREE delegation session today right HERE.