Delegate or Stagnate: How to Delegate Effectively And Energize Business Growth

What is delegation, and why is it important?

Delegation is often mistaken for a simple act of giving someone else specific tasks to do. However, delegation is actually a complex and essential skill that can be difficult to master.

At its core, delegation involves entrusting another person with the responsibility of completing a task or achieving a goal. This may seem like a simple concept; however, many entrepreneurs find it challenging to delegate responsibility effectively.

One of the challenges of delegation is ensuring that the person you delegate tasks to has the necessary skills and knowledge to complete the task. In addition, it is essential to delegate authority in a way that allows the delegatee to make decisions and take actions without needing approval from you.

Delegation is also about setting clear expectations and providing adequate support. When done correctly, delegation can be an extremely effective way to get things done. However, when done poorly, it can lead to confusion, frustration, and, ultimately, failure.

3 Big Benefits Of Delegation

Delegation is essential for any growth-minded entrepreneur. By delegate, we mean assigning tasks and responsibilities to another team member. Doing so may seem counterintuitive—after all, if you’re trying to grow your business, why would you give up control?

However, appropriately delegating tasks and responsibilities have many benefits. Here are three big ones.

1. Delegation Frees Up Your Time

For one thing, delegation frees up your time so that you can focus on more important tasks.

According to a study by the Harvard Business Review, the average manager spends only around 30% of their time on productive activities; the rest is taken up by things like attending meetings, responding to emails, and putting out fires.

So if you delegate some of these tedious tasks to others, you’ll have more time to focus on strategic planning and goal setting.

2. Delegation Begets More Opportunity To Delegate

In addition, delegation allows you to delegate: it allows you to build a team of people who can share the load and help your business grow.

As the saying goes, “There’s strength in numbers.” When you delegate effectively, you create a team of people working towards the same goal; Thus, increasing productivity and mitigating risk.

3. Delegation Allows You To Grow Yourself Further

Lastly, delegation allows you to focus on your own professional development.

As an entrepreneur, it’s essential to continue learning and growing. However, finding time to read books, attend conferences, or take online courses can be challenging when you’re constantly putting out fires.

By delegating some of your responsibilities, you’ll have more time to focus on your development.

How To Delegate Effectively

One of the most critical skills in any leader’s toolkit is the ability to delegate effectively. Delegation can help you get more done in less time and empower others to take on responsibilities and grow into their roles.

However, delegation is not always easy. Here are a few tips to help you delegate effectively:

First, be clear about what you want to delegate.

The first step is to look at your own workload and identify certain tasks you need help with. Be as specific as possible so there is no confusion about what needs to be done.

Choose the right person for the job.

Not every task requires the same skill set, so choosing someone well-suited for the task at hand is beneficial. Choosing the right person for the right tasks is crucial for successful growth.

Consider each person’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as their workload, when making your decision. Most importantly, though, I always suggest opting for attitude over aptitude. We can always train new skills, but we cannot train proper attitudes.

Set clear expectations.

Once you’ve chosen someone to delegate to, ensure they understand your expectations.

What needs to be done? By when?

What are the consequences if the delegated task is not completed satisfactorily?

Again, taking the time to set clear expectations will help ensure that the task is completed effectively.

Provide adequate resources.

If you want someone to complete specific tasks successfully, you need to give them the resources they need to do so. This may include anything from access to information to financial resources and other related resources.

Provide necessary training.

In some cases, you may need to provide training for the person you’re delegating to be successful. For example, if you’re delegating a new marketing campaign to someone on your team, they may need to be trained on new skills and how to use the relevant tools and software.

Follow up and provide feedback.

Delegation is not a hands-off process—you need to follow up with the person you delegated to and provide feedback on their performance. Doing so helps them understand what they did well and what they could improve on next time, thus inspiring loyalty and fostering long-term success.

4 Common Delegation Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Delegation is a critical skill in any business setting, yet it is often misunderstood or misused. When done correctly, delegation can save time, improve efficiency, and allow leaders to focus on more important tasks.

However, delegation can also backfire if not done correctly. Here are some common mistakes to avoid when delegating.

1. Not being clear about expectations.

When you delegate tasks, be sure to provide clear instructions and expectations. Otherwise, you may be disappointed with the results.

2. The delegate does not have the requisite skillsets.

Before delegating a task, be sure that the person you’re delegating to has the necessary skills and knowledge to complete it. Delegating tasks to someone who is not prepared will only lead to frustration and wasted time.

3. Delegating too much at once.

Don’t try to hand off everything at once. Instead, start with small tasks and work up to more time-consuming ones. Otherwise, you may overwhelm your delegatees and end up with more work than you started with.

4. Not following up.

Once you’ve delegated a task, you must follow up and check progress. Seeking regular progress updates shows that you’re still invested in the project and helps ensure the task is completed to your standards.

Best Software Tools For Delegating Work

While effective delegation is key to scaling a business, it can backfire if not done correctly. Fortunately, there are some great free or inexpensive tools out there that can help you raise your delegation game.

 It is vain to do with more what can be done with less.

—William of Ockham

Here are some of the best software tools to assist with delegation:

Trello

Trello is an excellent tool for delegation because it allows you to create visual “to-do” lists. This helps you see at a glance what needs to be done and who is responsible for each delegated task. Plus, you can also add comments and due dates to each task.

Asana

Asana is a popular project management tool that helps teams to collaborate and get delegated work done. You can use Asana to delegate tasks, track progress, and communicate with team members.

Asana is also an excellent delegation tool, as it makes it easy to assign tasks to other members of your team and track their progress.

Monday.com

Monday.com is a fantastic tool for delegating because it allows you to build custom “pipelines” for each project, making it easier to determine what has to be done and who is responsible for each activity at a glance.

In addition, you may add comments and due dates to each item.

Simple Spreadsheet

Sometimes the simplest solution is the best—shout out to Occam’s razor). And in the case of delegation, a simple spreadsheet may be all you need to organize and maintain each task’s details.

BONUS: Delegation Tips From The Bestselling Book, The MINDstretch

Articulate your vision in a manner that enables your team to engage effectively… They cannot deliver on what has not been clearly expressed!

Articulating your company vision is essential to effective delegation—you can’t delegate responsibly what you can’t articulate! So make sure you can succinctly express what you’re trying to achieve, and then your team will be able to engage with that goal effectively.

Trying to delegate work without a clear vision is like herding cats—it might be possible, but it’s certainly not going to be easy!

So take the time to articulate your vision clearly, and you’ll find that delegation becomes much more straightforward.

The effective leader knows when to intervene and when to let go!

One of the most important aspects of delegation is knowing when to intervene and when to let go. Of course, as the leader, it’s your job to set the direction—but once you’ve done that, it’s imperative to trust your team to carry out the task at hand.

If you find yourself constantly intervening, it’s a sign that you must delegate more effectively or let go a little bit!

Communicating specific actions, as well as the desired result, gives your team the opportunity to succeed!

Telling your team what you want them to do is only half the battle—you also need to communicate the desired result.

What are you hoping to achieve with this task?

Many delegation efforts fail because the leader hasn’t communicated the desired outcome clearly enough. So make sure you take the time to tell your team what you want them to do and what you’re hoping to achieve by delegating this task.

Final Thoughts: Delegate or Stagnate

So, what is delegation? Simply put, it’s the process of assigning tasks to others to achieve the desired outcome.

Delegation is a mission-critical tool for busy entrepreneurs, as it allows them to focus on higher-level tasks and goals while freeing up time and energy.

In this post, we’ve outlined three big benefits of delegation and shared some tips on how to delegate tasks effectively. We’ve also highlighted some common delegation mistakes and advised on how to avoid them. Finally, we’ve rounded up some great software tools that can make delegating work a breeze.

If you’re looking for more information or help with implementing these concepts into your business, don’t hesitate to contact us. Then, let’s discuss how delegation can help take your business to the next level!