3 Techniques To Help You Begin Delegating Responsibilities

By David Tully

Business owners and CEOs tend to err on the side of caution when considering the amount of work they delegate to colleagues and employees. A big part of the problem is there can be a lack of trust. You probably ask yourself: why should I delegate this responsibility if I can complete the job to a higher standard?

The three techniques in this article should stop that nagging question in your head from ever occurring.

1) See Delegation as Investing in People

By not delegating, you are restricting the ability of your employees to develop their own skills. The lack of trust can be derived from the fact that you believe they lack the experience to carry out the task properly. In some circumstances this may well be the case but how can they learn if they are not given a chance?

By providing them with new tasks, you are aiding their long-term development. In the future their value to you and the company as an employee will be increased. Just like going on a training course, delegation provides a way of increasing the skill set of those working for you. As long as you are clear about the task in hand, aware of their abilities and are patient with providing help initially, you can begin to free up time for more pressing tasks.

2) Realise that by not Delegating you are Losing Time and Money

You may find yourself being bogged down in book keeping, arranging meetings, contacting clients and other administrative duties, and I think it is important to ask yourself whether any of these daily tasks are actually helping you to grow your business. If they are not; why are you committing so much time to them?

They maybe essential duties, but there is no reason why you cannot delegate these to an assistant (virtual or otherwise). Of course, this would cost you more money, but just think about the amount of time you are wasting by not focusing on ways to expand your business. In some ways it could be said you are losing money because you are not delegating, probably more than if you hired an extra member of staff to help with these basic administrative tasks.

3) Relinquish Control and Let Employees do What They are Paid to Do

This is easier said than done. If you decide to delegate responsibilities while still choosing to micro-manage and control every aspect of the business, you can do more harm than good. In some ways it can cause resentment among the employees who have been given responsibilities but aren’t allowed to work in their own way because of interference from you. Allow them to perform the roles they are paid to do, as otherwise, why did you hire them in the first place?

What is your delegating style?