Can you still make it through your daily workload on your own? Or are you having trouble squeezing too many tasks with your little time? Perhaps, you’re no longer satisfied with the results because you’re not getting it done as you should. Well, which one is it?
If your answer is “all of the above,” then maybe you should entertain the idea of delegation.
Many business owners and entrepreneurs are skeptical about delegating for a lot of reasons. One, they don’t want to lose control. Second, they have expectations that they feel only they could meet.
While these things might be true in some cases, as a leader, you should concern yourself with the results and not with the intricate details of day-to-day performance. You have to let others get things done for you and be a leader.
In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of delegation, the strategies for having an effective one and then some.
Delegation is the practice of sharing and entrusting a specific job function to another person. It has the aim of transferring responsibility and decision-making to a subordinate.
While delegation sounds easy on paper, it is a very challenging route to take for leaders, especially since they have this notion that “If you want something done right, do it yourself.”
Delegation involves a lot of trust…trust in your worker's capabilities that they’ll do a good job. Remember, a leadership that knows delegation creates a much stronger team and is more successful in the long run.
Striking a balance between maintaining control and delegating is a real challenge. But if you refuse to do so, eventually, you and your business are going to suffer.
Here are some ways you can achieve effective delegation and grow your business.
Evaluate what your typical day is like in the office. How much time are you dedicating to doing mundane tasks versus strategic activities? Are you missing other important projects because of your constant juggling?
After you’ve reflected on all your answers, consider which tasks need your time and which are better off handing to someone else.
You know your strengths and weaknesses, correct? Maybe you are great at content creation and marketing, but can barely tolerate bookkeeping.
This is the time to embody the popular adage, “Focus on your strengths and delegate your weaknesses.” Why not do just that and let another person who is probably better than you, manage the tasks you’re not good at?
If you step back, you’re making your work life easier and improving your productivity.
When you’re delegating a task, you have to paint a clear picture to your subordinates. What are your expectations and desired outcomes? Make sure to be very clear about it by providing simple and concise instructions.
Also, you have to be open to questions. Asking questions is a good thing, it means your team wants to do a great job and complete the task.
We know that we said delegating is shifting the responsibility to another person, but this doesn’t mean handing out full control. You still need to have a sense of control over the completion of the project.
Remember, it’s not enough to delegate, you have to offer some guidance to make things work.
One of the most costly and common mistakes of a leader when delegating is throwing the task at the wrong person. How do you think your hired virtual assistant can complete a task if they don’t have the skills to do it?
Perhaps, your best-performing team members are doing the low-level tasks because they can do them a lot faster. If this is you, please stop doing it. Assign tasks to the right person, so you don’t waste precious resources.
Talk what you preach, because if you don’t walk the talk, your team will definitely not follow.
Achieve effective delegation by showing up. Whatever work you’re doing, you have to be clear about it and do it to the best of your ability. By setting an example, you’re inspiring others to do the same.
Instead of going over the little details of the work you’re delegating, concern yourself with the results.
This means you have to get out of the way and let your subordinate do the job and execute. Instill confidence and check with them that they have the necessary tools to achieve that desired outcome, and then hold them accountable for the outcome.
What are the 6 advantages of delegation?
If you want to be a great leader, you need to have the ability to create a culture of trust. The best way to build one is to have confidence in the abilities of your team and make them play a role in the success of your company.
As we often mention, delegation is allowing other people to take some of the workload off your plate, so you have more time to concentrate on high-value activities. With more time comes more opportunities… and achieving more.
If you fail to delegate, this can mean you lack confidence in other people. Therefore, you create employees who are not confident and are hesitant to bring new ideas.
The benefits of delegation in management are that when employees feel like they’re valued and their skills count for something, they are more engaged at work and are happier to be part of the team.
One of the benefits of delegation to the delegatee is how it contributes to their development.
By allowing your team members to have the freedom to handle a task and make decisions, you are empowering their work ethic and creativity. As a result, they are motivated to succeed, not just in their individual career, but for the future of the company.
Even better, this creative license also leads to creative breakthroughs that are very helpful in the development of specific skills.
It’s hard to have a semblance of life outside the office when you’re doing everything on your own — from answering calls down to marketing campaigns.
Yet, if you take the time to delegate work and share your burden, you have more time for the most important tasks in your company and promote self-care.
Yes, one of the benefits of delegation is having more time to do the things you love, outside running your business. By doing so, you can relax, feel excited and get more creative ideas flowing.
So, how can delegation improve productivity?
Delegation enables you to prioritize certain tasks and responsibilities. By shifting the lesser (but necessary) office chores to someone else, you can focus on the pressing matters of running a company.
Furthermore, delegation keeps you from taking too much workload and singling out things that matter most. In short, you get more work done while saving plenty of resources.
Before anything else, let’s first define “delegation” and “work allocation.” Although these terms are close cousins and are almost interchangeable, they’re not the same.
Work allocation is instructing someone to carry out a specific function. You just tell them what to do and they do it — as simple as that.
On the other hand, delegation involves transferring control to another person. That involves a certain trust between two parties.
So, how do they affect overall productivity?
They help save time, money and energy. Through smart work allocation and delegation, you can utilize resources. When you hire skilled and trained people, they can get the job done in less time, money and effort. So, you’ll have more resources to use.
Further reading: Pros and Cons of Virtual Assistant
Sure, there are certain disadvantages of delegation.
However, if you fully embrace the concept of delegating, instead of pushing it away, you will thrive and achieve more for your business.
That’s precisely the reason to allow yourself, as the boss or as an entrepreneur, to gain from the various benefits of delegation that VAV created.
At VAV, we have different types of VA — from video editors, software developers, recruitment assistants, bilingual virtual assistants and E-commerce site operators to accounting assistants. Depending on what project you’re working on, we have the means to help you.
The key to unlocking that endless potential is a click away. So, be a great leader and learn to delegate.
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