I believe in delegation; it’s critical for success and I have learned some lessons as a leader and business owner over the years! Here are some tips to think about when you delegate:
1-delegate to people that can create and think. Honestly, if you have to do all the thinking and creating, then you are pretty much doing the work! If you can hand off a project on a high level with clear expectations to someone that can take initiative, problem solve, and create and think for you- BAM!
2-hire people by the project, not the hour. I hire by the project. I always felt cheated when I hired by the hour. We always know we can do it faster, better, quicker, easier ourselves, right? That’s the whole thing about delegation. And if I thought to myself I could do it in 30 minutes and they charge me an hour‑and-a-half or two hours for it, it’s like “Dang!” There’s that feeling in the back of your head and yeah, it doesn’t feel good. People get better over time. They get faster at it. It takes so much time to do it but I’ve just learned that when I say to people, “This is the project. I’m willing to pay you this much a week or this much a month to do it. And whether it takes you 25 hours or whether it takes you five, I’m going to pay you the same.” And what I have found is that motivates people to get smart fast versus just do the work.
3-REPLACE the time you took doing that project with something new that will help increase revenue into your business. Is it a new program for customers to buy? Maybe you need to spend more time marketing? Whatever it is, don’t just sit and “watch” them doing it.
Most of my clients that are “stuck” bringing in more money to their business are not delegating. Is it time for you?
Ann M. Evanston is a “Chief Breakthrough Officer” teaching other Business Warriors how to slow down, and find the most unique part of their business that makes them stand out among the crowd. She has been named one of the top marketing consultants by About.com, is a guest blogger for Showcasing Women and takes pride in moving you from “blah, blah, blah” to “BOOM, BOOM. BOOM!”
Awesome tips! I already learned to delegate the techy bit of running my blog from you and I have never regretted doing that for a minute! I also delegated cleaning so I could focus on my biz. I think I will soon reach the point of delegating more too – can’t wait! I particularly like the tip about delegating by project not the hour and I shall be remembering that one!
Love the hire by the project tip. A few months ago I contracted out the programming for my Accounting Tools For Tutors program. We broke everything down by project which is much more cost-effective for me. Plus, it gives me the time to communicate with my customers that things will be changing on that site. Also, having a Virtual Assistant in my back pocket who knows we well and can write press releases for me as well as some busy work, frees up my time to market my businesses. Can’t be a micro-manager these days. Have to be able to trust others to handle things.
I’m at the starting line when it comes to learning how to delegate. You always say we need to hear a message multiple times to really get it, and I think maybe I’m hearing the “delegate” message for the 4th or so time! I know the place to start is with better tech support and website development. I particularly like the “delegate by the project” tip, because yes, I expect people to work fast and efficiently, and if they don’t do so (by my standard), I feel cheated. Delegating by the project solves that problem.
Great tips, Ann. I am not afraid to delegate tasks that I am not very good at or need it done at a top notch level. Often, you get what you pay for. I’m willing to pay to have it done well and save my sanity! I think as a business owner, we often feel like we have to do it all, but it ends up hurting our biz.
I also love the hire by the project tip, and not the hour. Makes a lot of sense! Thank you!
I don’t usually have the opportunity to delegate…no one here in the shop I can delegate to, and don’t usually have the budget to hire someone; although when my daughter is visiting I always bring her in to help with certain projects and pay her, so maybe I can convince my husband to allow me to find someone that would be on call to bring in when I need the help. I agree wholeheartedly with your pay by the project recommendation…that works so much better for all involved!
I never thought about hiring by project vs. an hourly rate. Makes total sense! I also like how you broke it down because there are some tasks we know we can get done faster and knowing we had to pay an hour for it…really bites! I really appreciate this idea.
I definitely hired a speaker assistant because that was taking too much of my time. Next is a VA. Thanks for sharing these Ann. I’m all for having my biz grow for sure!
xoxo
Alara
I learned the hard way about delegating when I tried to it all myself and ended up the creek without a paddle. Now i know to get someone else to at least do the work I can’t. i just hired someone to work on my new blog and although he was listed as working by the hour I asked him the total cost for the whole project and we agreed on a price. Worked out well for both parties
Hopefully as my business expands, i can also delegate some more of the tasks so i can concentrate on those skills for my business that only I have. Thanks for the great tips.
Julie
Labes,…The Fierce over 50 feels much younger point and click junkie
loves to travel does not use a jogging stroller and before you ask this
is NOT my granddaughter..Woman
Thanks for three great tips! They’re all vaguely familiar, but reading them head-on drives the points strongly. Similar to point 1, I like to delegate to busy people, because they know how to organize, prioritize, and get things done. Similar to point 3, I like to remind myself to focus on doing the most important thing at any moment. Not the most urgent or the easiest, and for me it’s often, but not always, about increasing revenue. I hadn’t thought much about your point 2, and it makes perfect sense to hire by the project, not by the hour.
I haven’t yet had the occasion to hire anyone to do work for my business, but this certainly made me think clearly about it. I especially liked the idea of paying by the project for all the reasons you sited as well as the fact that it just seems so much cleaner and more straitforward. And if I were on the other end of the arrangement, it would feel much better to me too. Thanks for sharing your wisdom of experience.
Great advice – so important and a steep learning curve for most entrepreneurs. I have hired assistants before and I find it is always different depending on the business I’m running and the most challenging is when you are a solo entrepreneur just starting to outsource. It is worth the time and money though, because having talented help makes all the difference! Love the suggestion of finding people who can think for themselves 🙂
Brandy
I like the hire by project vs. the hire by the hour. It’s the way I prefer to work myself. But I never thought of hiring that way for my “assistant” jobs. Thanks for once again sharing a great idea Ann!
#1-Boy, it is really hard finding those people that you can delegate to with complete trust. I have a partner that I do weekend scrapbook retreats with and we trust each other completely to do what we say we’ll do. We invite other Consultants to participate and bring their own customers. At first there was this mindset that the others who joined would share equally in the profit. Everyone was assigned a job, but some jobs were much smaller than others and involved a lot less time. We realized we were spending a lot more time than others, so now we run it as “our” event and pay the others a set fee per customer they bring. The remaining profit goes to us to pay for our time. As we find others who we trust to do specific parts of the prep we will pay them a set fee. #2-I state my hourly fee when bidding a job, but then I come back with a project bid that includes my estimated hours. If I go a little over, I don’t charge for the extra time. However, if the reason I need to go over is because the customer has come back to me with a lot of changes, I re-negotiate (and that is in the original contract.) I would expect to contract someone who worked the same way. #3-You mean when my Roomba is vacuuming, I should be doing something else, not watching it in amazement?!