Refining Your Art of Delegating
Laura Renner • August 10, 2020
We recently found this great
article
offering nine simple ways to do better at delegating. While reading it, I found myself thinking about specific examples we have seen at Freedom Makers where clients thrive or struggle with delegation. Check out our insights below.
Always provide feedback
As Mr. Economy states in the article, both positive and negative feedback is critical for the person to understand how they are doing and what they need to improve. We have seen Freedom Makers struggle with what we call the “black hole.” They submit work to the client and never get feedback, sometimes not even a confirmation that they received it.
When this happens repeatedly, our Freedom Makers start to think they are not doing a good job and that the client is not satisfied. This lack of feedback eventually causes them to disengage.
Feedback definitely helps you to be a better delegator.
Simple Tip
:
During our Kick Off Training, you can establish how you want to provide feedback and that makes feedback expected, which then makes it easier, and over time becomes a habit.
Be clear about what you want done
We get it, we are a small business too. The sheer amount of work that must be done can be overwhelming. Having to take time to stop, plan out, and then train someone else on what you want done can seem impossible.
Without clarity though, you are basically setting up your team for failure. They essentially grab the tiger by the tail and hang on until they cannot anymore. This leads to dissatisfaction and high turnover.
Simple Tip
:
Do take the time to plan out what you want done and provide that clarity to your team members. Even having a simple, standing, weekly call where you discuss what you want them to focus on that week can go a long way to providing clarity.
Delegate the right things
We have seen the gamut on what people want to delegate, ranging from really small tasks and projects to practically the entire operations of their business.
Neither is wrong per se, as long as:
- You are paying the right amount. (The problem is when someone tries to hire a virtual assistant to basically act as COO.)
- You are at the right place in your business. We have seen owners try to delegate sales when they were really the only person who could successfully accomplish sales in their business at that time.
Simple Tip
:
Start a list of what you want someone else to take care of. Ask a trusted
advisor to review and give their thoughts on its feasibility. Take our
Task Audit
to help guide this list.
Provide guidance when necessary
We have also seen clients say, “just take care of it all.” Without proper guidance, your team member may struggle to even know where to start, let alone where to go from there.
Simple Tip
:
Having a regularly scheduled call goes a long way. Not only can you provide feedback during those calls, you can answer questions and reinforce your vision.
Consider the skills and interest of your people
We match Freedom Makers with clients based whether the client wants and the Freedom Maker can:
- Stay within the lines or
- Take it and run with it
We have found that when those desires and capabilities are mismatched, it leads to a lot
of frustration.
At Freedom Makers, we only consider people interested in the type of work our clients are offering. Then we further match based on matching capabilities.
Simple Tip
:
Check out our
5 Levels of Delegation
blog to determine what skill level you are seeking.
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