The success of every business is highly dependent on the effectiveness of their teams. From major projects to everyday operations, a strong team spirit is essential to a healthy and successful business. A crucial part of good teamwork is proper delegation of roles and tasks.
Certain people will excel at certain things, and it’s your responsibility as a team lead to delegate tasks where appropriate. Sometimes, that might even mean bringing in help from third parties. Today, we will be discussing how to properly delegate your tasks and responsibilities to your team members.
Tips for Delegating
Bestowing responsibility reflects trust and makes employees feel satisfied, which is why it’s doubly important to put them in the proper roles. Make sure to ask yourself the following questions:
Does delegation not cost me more time?
This question implies delegation is a low-priority task, which is simply untrue. Delegation is a key part of team planning, and rushing through it will do you no good. Delegation should be taken seriously, and that means giving it the proper amount of time and attention. “Winging it” with your delegations is likely going to end up a mess.
I am the business owner, so shouldn’t I do X role myself?
True, as a business owner you should pull your own weight, but you should make sure it’s the correct use of your time. As a business owner, the most major of tasks should be left to you. While you should definitely pick up the slack when needed, the entire business slows to a crawl when you aren’t doing high-priority tasks.
Tasks such as planning projects, networking with other businesses, or screening new applicants who are better suited for the roles you have in mind should be at the top of your list. If you keep using yourself as a band-aid to fulfill roles that should have someone else should have full attention to, you might as well run everything yourself.
I am afraid to give up control to people who aren’t me, what to do?
If you are worried about a task not being accomplished to your liking, always screen your potential team members thoroughly for the role. More importantly, have a second opinion by doing these screenings with another person you trust.
Learn to trust in the abilities of others, because you’re going to have no choice. Businesses need teams to thrive, and unless you can clone yourself and fulfill every conceivable role, there’s not much to do but be more trusting in the abilities of people you hire.
Remember, no man is an island, and if anyone claims otherwise, they are a very small island that doesn’t get as many things done.
Benefits of Delegating
Manpower isn’t just about putting someone in a role and leaving it at that. It’s about maximizing every role to its fullest potential by putting the correct team member in that role.
Lessens Workload and Stress
Startups and small businesses have to do a lot of tasks with a much smaller team. This means that putting people in the proper roles is much more important than ever. Delegating tasks to the proper people reduces both workload and burnout. People in the wrong role are not only ineffective at their tasks, but they also suffer burnout much faster.
Delegation is also important in making sure managers and team leads spend their time planning major projects and connecting with businesses. Dedicating time to repetitive tasks as a team lead means less time managing your team and making sure everything is running smoothly. So, delegating people to where they should be is a simple fix that is often overlooked.
Hones Skills
Employees who are good at a task should be delegated to it not just for efficiency’s sake, but for their own betterment. The most important asset in any business is the people running it. Like a sword to a whetstone, an employee’s skills should be honed on the whetstone of work. They may be good at their job now, but they’ll only get better over time.
If you notice one of your team members excelling at something, take notice. Employees respond well to positive feedback, and they like knowing they are useful to the overall health of the business. By establishing a foundation of growth for them, your team will run much better than ever before.
Efficiency
Delegation makes your business run like a well-oiled machine. By having all the cogs in the right place, the work machine runs much more smoothly. Of course, it’s also important to realize these cogs are all team members, so in addition to being skilled for the role, they must also be happy when doing their roles.
An efficient team is capable of breezing through tasks without stress or delays. Proper delegation means fewer questions are asked, and fewer mistakes are made while working on projects. It’s a simple benefit and yet it is the most noticeable one that delegation brings to the table.
As highlighted here, delegation is essential when you’re looking to grow your business. We recognize that not every business owner has a team in place yet; sometimes, we start by using contractors instead. The same applies. Do you need help? Check out the High Achiever’s Freedom Code, VIP coaching.
Yvonne has a vast coaching experience from executives to teams to ambitious business owners.
Through her personal and business coaching programs she has helped dozens grow their businesses while drastically reducing their working hours.
And when Yvonne is not coaching, you can find her indulging in beach walks, and a sparkly glass of champagne.
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