Delegate ‑ Don’t Dictate

Have you ever seen a business or a shop where everyone does exactly what the owner wants done, but if the owner is absent, they do nothing or are paralyzed to make a decision?

When you give someone a task, do you notice some people can run with it and get a lot done independently and others need your guidance to even make a plan much less move forward to implement even the simplest steps?

Do you know why this is? Does it happen in your business? Indeed, delegation can be even harder than leadership to implement.

Delegating Checklist

My template is a delegating checklist from Tom Gegax:

  • Transfer Ownership
  • Tell Why
  • Get the Wheels Turning
  • Set Deadlines
  • Ask for a ReCap
  • Monitor – but don’t smother
  • No Take-Backs (very liberating)
  • Play the Employee’s Strong Suit

Lessons Learned

In addition, I’d like to add from the school of hard knocks:

1.      If you thing you can do it better by doing it yourself, or feel you might lose control if you delegate, you will actually create more problems than you solve. The result is you limit the growth of your business.

2.      Leadership is about being a delegator not a dictator. When you delegate, you create a saner situation and build confidence that good things will happen when you aren’t there. You let someone else learn those tasks. Therefore, learn to delegate responsibilities.

3.      Delegation will actually help you grow the business because you will have more time to wear your CEO cap and work on the vision, mission and planning (the strategic pieces to raise profits); or to find the right team members to provide superior customer service; or to perfect the sales experience for your customers.

4.      When you delegate effectively, more of the detail tasks come off your plate and crises don’t occur as often.

5.      If it does not need to be done by you, it can be delegated.

6.      The easiest place to start is to write down those procedures that are in your head and not documented anywhere. This becomes your operations manual. The more you write down that others can refer to, the less they are tied to you in person.

Where to start?

Delegate little things first. Delegate different things to different people – based on skills, interest, opportunity, aptitude.

Consider delegating those tasks you are not good at or honestly dread doing. For a retailer these might include bookkeeping, accounting, taxes, building maintenance, or janitorial work – all those tasks that are part of the business but don’t directly generate revenues. For an online business these might also include customer service, inventory or filing mandatory paperwork.

If marketing and advertising are not your forte – delegate them. If your assistant is a whiz at merchandizing or window displays – give her the reins of those tasks – incrementally.

Make your lists. Let go of the “I can do it myself” attitude. And start offloading tasks and responsibilities now.