Delegation
Delegation involves giving someone else the responsibility and authority to do something that you normally do and holding them accountable for doing it.
It is very important to understand what you should be spending your time doing in order to ensure that you achieve your business goals and objectives. Once you understand this, you can focus on these areas and look at delegating or outsourcing your other work.
Even if you work on your own you can look at outsourcing some of your work, you do not need to do everything yourself. If you try and do everything yourself you are likely to limit the potential growth of your business.
What are the signs that you may need to delegate?
-You are working long hours.
-You are often late for meetings and appointments.
-Your staff and suppliers are confused about what they should be doing.
-Your email inbox, voicemail and in tray are full.
-You never find the time to do the important things in your business.
-You are always reacting to the latest crisis.
-Sales and profitability are stagnant or declining.
-You have some unhappy customers.
-You feel out of control and unable to cope.
Why delegate?
-To enable you to focus on the important areas of your business.
-To achieve your business goals and objectives.
-To increase your sales and profitability.
-To improve productivity and efficiency.
-To save time by giving the work to those most able.
-To respond quicker to opportunities.
-To develop and motivate your staff and increase their job satisfaction.
What should you delegate?
-What should you be spending your time doing in order to ensure that you achieve your business goals and objectives?
-What tasks do you currently do (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly etc.)?
-From the above, what do you feel you need to delegate?
-Consider delegating or outsourcing things that are not in your area of expertise (e.g. book-keeping, marketing, IT support, legal issues etc.).
-Consider delegating all routine tasks (e.g. filing, administration, phone answering, data entry etc.).
-Consider delegating the authority for minor decisions.
-Wherever possible, try to delegate complete tasks.
-If you are doing things that are not essential for the business, why not stop doing them.
-There will be things that you do not want to delegate (e.g. company policy, strategy, staff issues etc.).
-Ensure that the potential benefits of delegation outweigh the costs.
How to delegate?
-Decide when you are going to delegate each task.
-Choose the right person or supplier to delegate the work to.
-Allow the time to delegate the work properly.
-Communicate what you would like doing, your expectations, the outcome, the deadlines and the feedback you would like.
-Allow the people to get on with the work and review it with them at the agreed times.
-Provide support when required.
-Be careful not to delegate too much too quickly.
-Give delegation time to work as the results will not always be immediate.
By choosing to delegate or outsource more of your work you could significantly increase the sales, productivity and profitability of your business, so why not review your workload today and see what changes you can make.
If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.
This article first appeared in the January 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.
It is very important to understand what you should be spending your time doing in order to ensure that you achieve your business goals and objectives. Once you understand this, you can focus on these areas and look at delegating or outsourcing your other work.
Even if you work on your own you can look at outsourcing some of your work, you do not need to do everything yourself. If you try and do everything yourself you are likely to limit the potential growth of your business.
What are the signs that you may need to delegate?
-You are working long hours.
-You are often late for meetings and appointments.
-Your staff and suppliers are confused about what they should be doing.
-Your email inbox, voicemail and in tray are full.
-You never find the time to do the important things in your business.
-You are always reacting to the latest crisis.
-Sales and profitability are stagnant or declining.
-You have some unhappy customers.
-You feel out of control and unable to cope.
Why delegate?
-To enable you to focus on the important areas of your business.
-To achieve your business goals and objectives.
-To increase your sales and profitability.
-To improve productivity and efficiency.
-To save time by giving the work to those most able.
-To respond quicker to opportunities.
-To develop and motivate your staff and increase their job satisfaction.
What should you delegate?
-What should you be spending your time doing in order to ensure that you achieve your business goals and objectives?
-What tasks do you currently do (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly etc.)?
-From the above, what do you feel you need to delegate?
-Consider delegating or outsourcing things that are not in your area of expertise (e.g. book-keeping, marketing, IT support, legal issues etc.).
-Consider delegating all routine tasks (e.g. filing, administration, phone answering, data entry etc.).
-Consider delegating the authority for minor decisions.
-Wherever possible, try to delegate complete tasks.
-If you are doing things that are not essential for the business, why not stop doing them.
-There will be things that you do not want to delegate (e.g. company policy, strategy, staff issues etc.).
-Ensure that the potential benefits of delegation outweigh the costs.
How to delegate?
-Decide when you are going to delegate each task.
-Choose the right person or supplier to delegate the work to.
-Allow the time to delegate the work properly.
-Communicate what you would like doing, your expectations, the outcome, the deadlines and the feedback you would like.
-Allow the people to get on with the work and review it with them at the agreed times.
-Provide support when required.
-Be careful not to delegate too much too quickly.
-Give delegation time to work as the results will not always be immediate.
By choosing to delegate or outsource more of your work you could significantly increase the sales, productivity and profitability of your business, so why not review your workload today and see what changes you can make.
If you would like further information or to use any of our services please refer to the Makin It Happen – Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management website at http://makinithappen.co.uk or contact Liz Makin at Liz@makinithappen.co.uk.
This article first appeared in the January 2008 edition of the Makin It Happen - Coaching, Mentoring & Stress Management newsletter. Please click here to Sign up for our email newsletter.
posted by Liz Makin at 1:17 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home