So you’ve spent months or years building up your business, and you’ve reached a good level of success. Congratulations! But now, you may feel overwhelmed and frustrated. You are overworked and stressed. How do you possibly manage all of the customer flow by yourself? Now may be a great time to start learning delegation 101.

This delegation 101 article dives into 1) why you should delegate and 2) how to effectively delegate to grow your business.

Many business owners and managers are reluctant to delegate duties. If you’re a business owner, you’ve put your blood, sweat, and tears into your business. You may be worried about handing over the reins to someone else. What if they mess things up? How will you know they’re making the right decisions for your business?

If you’re a manager, you may be hesitant to delegate duties for several reasons. First, you may think you’re the only person who can do the job right. You may worry it will take more time and expense to delegate the work than do it yourself. Or you may not want to “dump” more work on other employees. On the other hand, some managers worry that if they delegate the job, someone else may do it better than them. In other words, they fear they will no longer appear indispensable to the company.

Despite your reluctance to dive into this delegation 101, learning how to delegate effectively can transform your business. A Gallup study showed that business CEOs with high delegation scores generated 33% more revenue. This is compared to those companies with low delegation scores. Moreover, companies with high delegation scores created an average of 21 jobs within a three-span. This is compared to 7 positions for companies with low delegation scores. In short, delegating is good for the bottom line.

Understanding delegation 101 also gives you more time to focus on the things you care about the most in your business. Delegating tasks to others allows you to focus on the bigger picture of growing your business. Moreover, managers who are effective delegators are viewed as more effective leaders. This delegation 101 article will give you some valuable tips for delegating more in your business.

What Does It Mean to Delegate?

Adopting these delegation 101 tips in a business refers to when one person in a company (usually a manager) assigns tasks to another person. Delegation in business is necessary and expected. Unless your business consists of a one-person job, you must learn how to delegate at some point.

Business owners and managers run their businesses much more efficiently when they’re willing to delegate tasks to lower-level employees. And proper delegation leads to happier employees. A key point in delegation 101 is actually trusting your employee on the job. Don’t micromanage or overbear them. This offers employees opportunities for professional development, bolsters their confidence, and increases productivity. Effective delegation leads to more efficient workplaces because employees work on tasks that best match their skills and expertise.

However, it is crucial to ensure that you are delegating on solid legal ground. This means having the legal documents to delegate to both employees and independent contractors. An experienced small business lawyer can help you get these documents in place. This way, you can feel confident delegating tasks.

The Dos of Delegating

Here are a few good rules of thumb to follow when deciding to delegate.

Decide What Tasks You’re Going to Delegate

As a business manager or owner, you need to decide what tasks you will delegate to other people. Do this by first looking at your business analytics. Then ask yourself a few questions:

  • What tasks do I most enjoy doing?
  • Which tasks do I dread?
  • What tasks am I good at?
  • Which tasks do I want to let go of and let someone else do?
  • What tasks are my employees good at?
  • What tasks are slowing my business down?

Once you decide what you will delegate, you must determine which employee to delegate to. Next, you have to determine who is best suited to perform a particular task. The best way to find this out is to speak to them. Ask your employees what they’re good at and what tasks they’re the most interested in.

Tasks Best Suited for Delegation

Tasks that are best suited for delegation include:

  • Small, easy tasks
  • Tasks that another employee is more skilled at than you are
  • Functions that owners can teach easily
  • Tasks that can be shared among several people when the work is time-consuming or time-sensitive

Finally, realize that you can’t delegate everything. You may need to hold onto work critical to your business or create legal risk.

Start Small and Work Up

If you’ve always been a hands-on manager or owner, delegating work can be scary at first. It can also backfire if you do not have the proper tools in place. Using these delegating 101 tips all at once can be disastrous. Thus, some managers may decide not to delegate anything again.

As you start to let go and delegate more, take your time. Delegate a few small tasks at first and give them to just a few employees. Focus on those first and make sure operations are running smoothly. Then move on to delegate more work. Try it out in other areas once you determine that delegation is working well in one area. You may find that some tasks are just not suitable for delegation in your company. And that’s fine.

Give Your Employees Clear Instructions

When delegating tasks, you need to give employees clear instructions on their new duties—company morale tanks when employees don’t have clear directions on their roles and responsibilities. Having clearly defined roles prevent inefficiencies and unnecessary, duplicative work. When delegating, offer guidance on how to do the job. All delegation tasks should include:

  • Clear instructions and tools,
  • Due dates
  • Priorities
  • Expectations for the outcome of the work.

However, when giving instructions, allow your employees some flexibility in performing their tasks. Be clear about what you want to be done. Be more explicit about the result you are seeking. Yet, allow them to be creative in how they reach that result. Employees are all adults, so treat them that way. Treating them like children whose hands need holding leads to resentment. Giving your employees leeway within your clearly stated goals will instill confidence in their abilities.

Proper Training

Offer training as you implement delegation 101. If the employee is going to learn new software to perform the job, give them everything they need to know it. Ask them what they need and give it to them. Giving employees proper training is an investment in your business.

While it may take time and expense on the front end, it will save you money over time and make your business more efficient. Your employees will also appreciate the opportunities for professional development. Finally, understand that while some delegated work seems easy to you, it may be entirely new for someone else. Be patient and reinforce that you are committed to helping them learn new tasks and take on new responsibilities.

Give Your Employees Productive Feedback

Delegation 101 also involves checking the delegated work. Following your review, give your employees quick and thorough feedback. Bad habits at work often happen when someone does not understand the task at the outset. Create continuous communication to ensure you are both clear on their assignment. Check-ins will enable you to ensure they are handling it properly.

Do they have any questions about the assignment? Is there anything you were not clear about? The worst thing a manager can do is assign tasks and then go dark on employees.

It’s very important to thank your employees for the work they’re doing. Unfortunately, some managers operate on the theory that they only need to give feedback when the employees make mistakes.

Sometimes, employees just become so good at their delegated tasks that managers take this for granted and don’t praise them for their work. This does not generate goodwill. Employees need to hear from their managers when they’re doing things right–not just when they’ve made a mistake.

Encourage Employee Feedback on Your Delegation 101 Plan

One of the biggest complaints from employees about upper management is they have no idea what’s going on down “on the ground,” where the business’s practical day-to-day operations are being run. Bad managers implement new policies and practices without first consulting their front-line workers. Effective managers check in often with their employers on the ground and encourage employees to offer new ideas on how the work can be done better and more efficiently.

Check-in frequently with employees. Ask them if they think the systems are working well. Ask what the company can do better. Implement an anonymous feedback survey on the delegation 101 plan. Make sure the survey is genuinely anonymous. Bad managers tend to be on the defensive and take things personally, whereas good managers take nothing personally and are always open to new ideas.

Resources on Learning How to Delegate in Your Business

Here are some excellent resources for learning how to delegate effectively:

The Busy Manager’s Guide to Delegation, by Richard A. Luecke and Perry McIntosh

Work Less, Do More, by Jan Yager

Delegating: Pass the Right Tasks onto the Right People, and Everyone will Benefit, by Julie-Ann Amos

Deep and Deliberate Delegation: A New Art for Unleashing Talent and Winning Back Time, by Dave Stitt

And remember, always think about the legal ramifications of bringing on employees or hiring independent contractors. As we’ve mentioned before, what you don’t know could hurt you. Consult with a knowledgeable business attorney to understand what you need to delegate effectively.

Don’t forget to check out our chat with Dina Eisenberg on delegation and outsourcing to learn some more excellent tips for delegating.

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