Problem:
One the the big problems that I have in running my own business is feeling like an employee. This often means working long hours in my business. If you’ve felt this way before, you know how burnt this can leave you.
Michael Gerber’s E-Myth Revisited is an excellent book which talks about the three mindsets that all entrepreneurs have and how to start working on your business instead of in it.
I read this book for the first time 2 years ago and it has been a tremendous asset to my business thinking. And it covers an issue I think many of us face.
The biggest problem is that I’m a perfectionist. I have to have things done my way or no way at all. It’s a personality flaw that I think many of us have. It keeps us from success, though. The same trait that makes us top performers is holding us back from the ultimate success in life.
Don’t let your perfectionism hold you back. You need to learn how to delegate and manage a team. You’ll start to get your life back and your time which is better than the alternative – working yourself to death.
Trust Me. Been there – done that. Not Fun.
Objective:
- Develop a strategy for delegating responsibilities to your employees.
- Implement the strategy for successful delegation.
Time frame:
Drafting your delegation plan can take up to 2 weeks, but gets quicker the more you do it. Implementation depends on your relationship with your current employees and the systems you already have in place.
Action Plan:
Step 1: Planning
This stage is spent identifying your goals and objectives. What are you trying to achieve within your company?
Are you trying to sell more Jimmy John subs? Are you trying to be the Tropical Smoothie king?
For me, its cranking out quality content every single day and currently its a team of one. But after my 30 day challenge, I plan to take my experience and turn it into a job that can be outsourced.
Sometimes, this phase is just you creating a specific result or accomplishing a single task. The more you can create a routine around the task and build a system, the easier it will be to delegate.
At the end of the day, though, you must have a clear objective of what your end result should look like. There must be a clear guidance on how to accomplish the task as well. This is all part of creating a system.
As you develop your system and conduct your planning, consider timelines and dates that you need tasks done by. These will be important to communicate to your team and will ultimately become one of your measures of success.
And finally, don’t forget to consider the resources needed to make your team successful. This may take the form of tools, money, time and/or expertise. Make sure folks have the right skill set for the job, or you’re just setting them up to fail.
Planning should make up roughly 50% of your time as a leader, visionary and Master Delegator.
Step 2: Organizing
At this stage, we’re taking the plan and allocating resources to meet each one of the goals. Sometimes, you’ll have to work around constraints and you’ll realize that not all goals can be met on day one.
And that’s OK.
When you decide that you’re going to delegate, you’ve made the decision to entrust your team with the responsibility to execute on your behalf.
You have to also expect that some task might take longer than expected or they might require more resources than you to do the same job. Part of organizing is monitoring and aligning resources for your employees to get the job done right.
It’ll be important to track their progress and give them clear metrics to measure success by. These are all things that should have been considered in the planning phase, and you’ll be glad that you did it ahead of time.
As you continue to grow your business, you’ll find 30% of your time spent organizing your systems and helping to align resources with goals. A very crucial part of running your business.
Step 3: Leading
The final piece of the puzzle will be leading. Every business needs a leader at the helm of the ship guiding and giving direction. You are that leader.
You have to be strong. Not necessarily ruling with an iron fist, but you must be able to take charge. Remember that its your business.
The flip side of this is that you must be able to be honest and have clear lines of communication with your employees. Focus on building a culture of trust and understanding motivations.
As an entrepreneur your focus should be not just goal setting, but vision casting. Employees and contractors alike should be inspired by the work that you want to accomplish. Give people something to reach for and then let them go after it.
There’s a lot that can be said about leadership and how to inspire others, but today recognize that you’ll be spending time regularly communicating your vision to your employees and will be responsible for the culture of your company.
This is the final 20% of the equation and often the most overlooked portion. You can only get so far with the first two pieces. This step will take you the rest of the way.
Summary:
50% Planning; 30% Organizing; and 20% Leading is the equation of delegation and management success in my opinion. Having observed it first hand at a large corporation and implementing it in my own businesses, I have to encourage folks to spend time thinking about these things.
Not everything you do will be a success and delegating is one of those activities that you cannot learn through a text book or a blog. You have to work at it and actually practice it.
If you’re ready to start delegating a task, start now. Don’t wait. The experience you’ll gain will lead to a lifetime of success.
If you’re looking for more insight on how to delegate, outsource or automate your business, contact me for a free 15-minute consultation.
Cheers!
-Alex
Inspired by: http://delegatedtodone.com/isnt-it-time-to-stop-being-an-employee-of-your-own-company/
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