Delegating Is Critical To Small Business Growth

Have you finally reached the overwhelm stage of being a small business owner?  Could be the time to start delegating work to others has come.  What seemed like a better way to earn a living than working for someone else may not have turned out the way you expected.  By now, you have found out just how many jobs (read: hats to wear) you become responsible for as a business owner.

Let’s see, you get to be the owner/CEO of the company, and, with employees, the boss/manager and administrator.  Add in chief financial officer, bookkeeper and human resources manager.  Those are just the top business areas necessary to grow a successful business.  Marketing, public relations and sales are important to bring in customers.  You know by now what customer and product/service related tasks need done to bring in and keep customers – happy customers – in your particular business.

Small businesses are great – most of the time.  Millions of people start up on their own every year.  Here in the US, it’s a pretty simple thing to do.  The less wonderful side of having a business of your own is that the majority of startups never make it past the 1st or 2^nd, and some even their 5th year.  Maybe you are still running a one-person show, or maybe you have a few employees, but are still struggling.  All of the necessary tasks and responsibilities for your survival really do pile up quickly, don’t they?  You need to learn how to get them all done.

Delegating to Get the Job(s) Done

Being unprepared for growth can do a great deal of harm to your dreams of independence and wealth building.  A strategic management plan can guide your business through the various phases of moving your company to more locations, to a larger workforce or an expanded line of product or service offerings.  Using that important plan as your guide, you still have to consider the manpower side of the business.  So many small business owners operating on their own are used to being the one and only.  By that, I mean the one and only person making all of the decisions on how the company will operate.  Deciding what vendors to use is all yours.  Setting prices and quantities is up to you.  How often to send invoices, the terms of payment and even chasing down slow paying customers falls in your lap.

At some point, you will make the decision that it is time to grow the business.  Adding employees, or seeking outside assistance, will go along with this major business choice.  You can’t build a strong foundation to support a larger and more successful business alone.  Just because you can handle four or five – or fifteen or twenty – customers alone doesn’t mean you can double or triple customers or handle much larger purchases by yourself.

To strategically grow a larger, successful business you are going to need some help.  You are going to have to address the Big ‘D’ word:  Delegating.  That means prying your white-knuckled fingers off of some – a lot – of the tasks that went into getting your business to the size it is today.  Go on, do it!  It may be a little nerve-wracking at first, but it will be worth it in the long run.

6 Important Reasons for Leaders to Delegate

• Free up time to work on planning and organizing your business to grow and succeed.
• Share an overwhelming workload with others.
• Stop spreading yourself too thin to be effective.
• Improve your and staff members’ skill levels.
• Motivate employees and build trust.
• Pass work on to those with best skill level for the task.

What Work Can a Leader Delegate to Others?

• Start with routine tasks and basic activities within your firm.  Answering the telephones, checking email, setting appointments, greeting customers, organizing office supplies or libraries are all pretty basic things that can be passed on to others.
• Administrative and clerical tasks are easily passed on.  These tasks generally require that you have set processes in place that can be easily followed.
• Tasks that will help raise the skill levels of staff.  Project research, drafts of proposals and presentations fit well at this level.

Excuses for Not Delegating Work

The biggest excuses for not delegating work to others are clear, I’ve used them all myself too many times over the years.  “I can do it faster and better myself.”  “It will take too long for me to teach someone else to do it.”  And, of course there is the always handy:  “Only I can do it right!”  They all sound familiar, don’t they?  Regardless of how accurate those statements may be, to grow your small business, you need to teach others to take on bigger parts of the workload.  Otherwise, everything will continue to pile up – on your desk.

It is time to stop micromanaging everything related to your business. Everything does not need to pass through your hands.  You need to give up your need for perfection.  There are going to be mistakes from time to time.  That is how people learn.  Your time is more valuable now.  Use your time to focus on the important Big Picture issues related to the growth and success of your small firm.

8 Critical Steps to Delegating Work to Grow Your Small Business

1. Bite the bullet and make the decision to delegate a task. This is the beginning of your “Letting go.” Phase.
2. Consider and select the appropriate person for the particular task. Do you need to teach them something new or can you take advantage of existing strong skills?
3. Outline the results you want? Identify what resources will be needed, contacts that might be used, and important deadlines for project phases or full completion of the task.
4. Take time to discuss this with the chosen delegate. Listen to their feedback and questions.
5. Be ready to adjust your task timelines, resources, contacts, etc. based on your employee’s input.
6. Make clear, and agree on, the project schedule and reporting method.
7. Completion of the project and report of work done by employee.
8. Make time to evaluate the project on your own, then review with employee.

Building a successful small business can be exciting.  It can also at times, be grueling and overwhelming.  If you came from a larger firm with support staff, being a solo-preneur can be daunting.  You may not have noticed or appreciated how much support work came from other employees as you worked only on the area you were educated and hired to do.  You will need to get some of that help back if you want to grow a larger, more profitable firm to support your family’s financial future.

How do I start delegating?

As with all work within your small firm, systems and processes need to be developed for this vital step on your path to success.  The system will make it easier to hand off work and continually provide positive results. Get started by making a list of tasks you either just hate to do on your own, or that someone with less experience and business skills can handle.

To begin delegating, you need to develop a process with several important objectives.  First, it will serve as a tracking mechanism for you.  It will help you remember details of the task and to whom it was assigned.  Then, you need to let your staff know what the task they will be doing is all about.  What is the job they will be taking on, what resources they might need, your expectations and deadline for completion.  You can find a sample task sheet template here to use as a guideline.  Also offered is check sheet to evaluate your delegating skill level.  Another option you might want to consider is a delegation worksheet offered by The Management Center.

While you spend time working on  business strategy and the business development side of things, less experienced, lower paid employees can pick up simple, yet necessary, pieces of your business operations.  A solid business foundation is critical to building that bigger, more successful business you dream about.  You can’t do it all alone.  It is time to get some help.  Free up your time for the most important thinking about the future of your company. It’s the only way to move forward successfully.