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Top Ten Ways Delegating Makes Your Business More Successful

Guest post by: Kerri Salls

Article Overview: Most sole proprietors and solo entrepreneurs go in to business for themselves because they love what they do. They have honed their craft to become an expert. They excel at what they do and put their total energy, commitment and passion into making the business succeed. But at some point (hopefully sooner rather than later) they realize they can’t do it all themselves and they need a team around them to further the growth and success of their enterprise. Here are ten ideas that may help you delegate effectively so your business will flourish.

Top Ten Ways Delegating Makes Your Business More Successful

Most sole proprietors and solo entrepreneurs go in to business for themselves because they love what they do. They have honed their craft to become an expert. They excel at what they do and put their total energy, commitment and passion into making the business succeed. But at some point (hopefully sooner rather than later) they realize they can’t do it all themselves and they need a team around them to further the growth and success of their enterprise. Here are ten ideas that may help you delegate effectively so your business will flourish.

1. Delegate paper – When you delegate paper handling, you eliminate clutter from your desk and inbox and direct it to the appropriate person first.
2. Delegate anything that is routine – When you delegate routine activities (store opening, shipping products, new product press releases), you are taking tasks that are necessary and assigning them to appropriate people, i.e. staff, contractors, service providers.
3. Delegate anything that is done by a consistent process. – If you have a certain way you track inventory or sales, automate it so anyone can reference it. Make it accessible to the team. If you have a test procedure you use to benchmark prototypes, don’t keep it in your head or only on your laptop. Share it with the team so they don’t need you to be able to meet your standards.
4. Delegate any repeatable procedure. – If you have a prepared demonstration of your newest product at a trade show, let someone else do the presentation 6 times a day, to free you up for closing more sales.
5. Delegate to gain control over your time. - Decide on the three things you do best and love to do – delegate the rest. To make time to work on the business, you must give up doing everything yourself.
6. When you delegate, don’t abdicate. – Delegating demonstrates to your team that you trust them and have confidence in them which in turn instills loyalty binding them to you. The caveat is that you must take responsibility to train them before you make them accountable. If you have a new marketing intern full of enthusiasm – coach her/him on what you expect them to do, outline the project with them, review the results with them to ensure the outcomes you expect
7. Create an Operations Manual. – For every area of the business (e.g., administration, sales/marketing, production, finance/accounting). This is a critical tool if you indeed want to delegate the rest. Your team can refer to it, instead of picking your brain when they want to do something. New staff will have a reference of how things are done which will encourage initiative instead of hobbling them.
8. When you delegate, you create space and time to work on the business (“sharpening the saw”) keeping your priorities in order.
9. Delegate different things to different people based on their skills, interest, opportunity, aptitude, and personality traits.
10. Delegate those tasks you are not good at or honestly dread doing. If you run an engineering company or an accounting firm, you should not be the one buying office supplies or tracking attendance, never mind shredding the trash or sweeping the lab floor.

Leadership is about being a delegator not a dictator. Learn to delegate responsibilities. It will help you grow the business, focus on your vision, as well as reignite your passion for the work you love.

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  Delegation Is About Effective Management
  Management Training for Effective Delegation
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  Delegation - An Important Role For Every Manager
  Effective Delegation: The Secret Tool for Growth

Article Tags: delegate, dictator, leadership, team



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