Delegation is a must for any business that desires to grow. Business growth is just not possible if you try to do it all yourself. There is a view that quality work can only be done yourself however that is a myth and can be solved by being willing to change that view point and following a delegation process.
The delegation process has to start with the premise that all things can be delegated. This tends to be difficult to do for those who have obsessive personalities (aka control freaks). There is just about nothing that cannot be delegated assuming you have hired competent people for the job.
An effective delegation process that you can leverage for your business is as follows –
1. List tasks to be delegated. To help bring focus to the process, focus on tasks that can be done by someone else should they have adequate instructions. Tasks that need to be performed daily, weekly etc on a routine basis are ideal tasks to be delegated.
2. Prepare specific instructions. To begin the process of handing over tasks to your personnel you;ll need to provide a brief explanation of the task, the purpose for it to be performed and the goal to be achieved by performing it. Instructions should be provided so that the person handling the task can perform it based solely on your instructions even if you were not present. Deadlines, benchmarks or any other requirements that are relevant to the task will allow need to be outlined along with the instructions.
3. Hold an assignment meeting. Keep the meeting short and to the point ensuring that the individual/s handling the task understand what needs to be done and have the opportunity to ask any clarifying questions. Milestones and objectives to be achieved also be reiterated in order to ensure they understand how they will be measured on the progress of the task/s.
4. Follow up with Follow ups. Use your milestones and other follow up points to ensure that the tasks delegated are being handled appropriately and adequately. It is important to stick with the follow up milestones at the agreed time frames and not do it too early or even ignore them.
The delegation process should see well on your way to being more productive and more importantly leveraging your time and business opportunities for greater growth.
