Discover The Power Of Effective Delegation

Learning To Delegate - you simply cannot do everything yourself if you want to grow your business exponentially. You must utilize your resources.

There is not a single management skill more critical to your personal and professional success as an entrepreneur, than learning to delegate.

There is much more to delegating than meets the eye. Delegation does not mean to simply hand out assignments to others. Effective delegation is an exercise in understanding one's own limits.

Some are lucky enough to accurately identify their areas of strength and weakness. It takes courage to let go and say "OK this is not my areas of expertise and here is where I need help."

We all have things we wish we were good at but somehow can not seem to fully grasp (not for lack of intellectual ability, but for lack of experience/exposure). We must learn to accept this fact.

In this fast paced world we live in, we must choose what it is we wish to conquer and what we need to let go of. A smart businessperson learns what she does best and does that to the best of her ability. She lives it, breathes it, and sleeps it. It is a passion. The rest can be left to someone else, provided she begins learning to delegate.

Networking or "relationship building", is the initial key component of learning to delegate.

You need to determine how your time can best be spent. For example, as a fundraiser, I know that in a given month, I can raise $X with uninterrupted, focused time. At the same time, I also want to publish a newsletter and send it out to my growing clientele.

I have no experience creating a newsletter. While all of the software is at my fingertips, the question is do I really have time to learn it? I ask myself: "Should I learn the newsletter software and design my own newsletter or should I spend $X and hire a designer who already knows the software and just supply the content?"

Better yet, I could ask a local graphic designer to barter their services. But how do I find the local skilled person to barter with? You can find this person through networking and relationship building.

The key to effective delegation is to determine what you:

• Need to know
• Want to know
• Must know
• Already know

Becoming an Expert

Jack of all trades, master of none. - This old adage holds a lot of weight in today's entrepreneurial environment. No one can possibly run a small business alone. Learning to delegate is truly a necessity.

When starting a small business, you might never get it off the ground without the help of a CPA, lawyer, graphic designer, and/or administrative assistant.

Your expertise may lie in the areas of people skills, marketing, and fund raising. You might realize from the start that if you attempt to be anything but those things to your business, the long-term success of the business could be at risk. Set out immediately toward learning to delegate - find the experts you need.

It is important to surround yourself with competent individuals who have complimentary areas of expertise. Choose carefully and wisely and be ready to compensate these individuals for a job well done.

In some cases, you might be able to defer payment until the business takes off. In other cases, you may need to make long-term promises such as potential employment if and when the business is viable. If you are really fortunate, you will be successful in bartering for services.

Payment need not always come in the form of dollars. Remember your area of expertise and be ready to trade it for what you need. Bartering is a way of learning to delegate effectively.

When bartering you need to follow a few simple rules: Be nice and respectful, send thank you notes, and recognize those individuals who have helped you both publicly and privately. In doing so, you will gain respect and be known as someone who gets the job done.

The Power of Delegating

It is quite liberating once you really do let go and put trust in other people.

The key in learning to delegate is to identify good people, enlist them in your cause or business, give them the ball, and then allow them to run with it. Only you will determine if the ball gets dropped.

For example, you would not hire a person with an associate's degree in accounting to do the job of a CPA. Likewise, a CPA needs certain facts to achieve the task of budgeting and forecasting cash flow for your business.

You need to supply the necessary information to get the job done. You must understand the process and know what you need the outcome to be. You must also communicate these objectives clearly and monitor the progress.

Set meeting times for updates and a time line for completion. Reviewing the process and progress frequently is a key piece to learning to delegate effectively.

Do Not Over-Delegate

Excessive delegating can lead to disaster. Overburdening others and excessively monitoring others progress are habits of an excessive delegator.

A complete hand off approach will not do, either. Not being a CPA is no excuse for not understanding the budget of your company. You must understand how the budget works and be accountable for it.

You must also be able to communicate this information to your board of directors, team leaders, shareholders and creditors.

Learning to delegate does not mean you can "abdicate" your responsibility as a business owner. You must maintain some level of oversight. Most importantly, you must understand how the critical pieces of your business fit together to form the whole so you can make sound and effective business decisions.

One Last Note on Learning to Delegate:

It is nice to want to do all the work yourself. For one thing, on the surface, it appears that it will save you money. However, your time also has a monetary value. If you can not pay cash, try to negotiate special terms or consider a bartering relationship.

Do not make the mistake of attempting to run your business all by yourself - learning to delegate is a highly valuable skill that can save you a ton of time, money and headache.

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