Read time: 3 min read
Learning how to delegate can be a tough challenge for owners of a fast-growing young company. They frequently start by doing everything, from bookkeeping and marketing to mopping the floors. The reward of this, divided by their work hours, often equals less than the national minimum wage.
What is the purpose of delegating?
Delegation is essential to scale your business. Without it, the business leader may fall into the trap of becoming a constraint on growth and their role being less that of an entrepreneur and more that of a low-paid worker.
In addition, once you start generating revenue, you will also be working hard to complete the work and could reach capacity quickly. You could spend too much time working in the business rather than on it.
Martin Brown, CEO of Elephants Child, says: “If you don't break that cycle, you're creating a glass ceiling. You must change how you do things or you’ll never get to lead through the next phases of growth.”
Delegation is critical for your wellbeing, too. Trusting others with tasks you don’t enjoy or that add too much stress helps you balance work and personal priorities, and preserve your quality of life.
Abbi Head, PR and Design Consultant at Little PR Rock Marketing, says: “As you grow, you must let go of tasks that other people could do faster or better. For example, I needed to source design work as I was doing increasing amounts of copywriting, which was conflicting. Taking on every aspect of the business will be overwhelming. Delegating allows for increased downtime that will make you more relaxed and productive.”
When and where should I delegate?
Martin says the way to answer this is to create a clear purpose and long-term strategic plan for your business, then break that down into three- and one-year plans. Then give clarity to the roles and simple steps needed to deliver in line with the business’s purpose.
“These plans will make it clear when you need to recruit,” he says. “It’ll show you what monies you need and what return you could get from that investment in the short and long term.”
You can delegate to existing employees, recruit for roles or outsource to third parties, as well as redesigning, automating or dropping non-key activity.
Paul Owen, Managing Director of Sales Talent UK, says: “There are two ways of deciding where to delegate first. One is to ask which areas, if improved, would bring the most value to the company. The second is to ask which areas you can delegate most easily. In most cases, I’d suggest option two. If you delegate difficult functions first and have a bad experience, you’ll be reluctant to do it again. This will hold your company back. But once you’ve seen delegation work in action, you’ll become more confident.”
Some entrepreneurs worry no one else can do the job as well or as quickly as them. But you can overcome this trust problem by aligning your recruitment processes with your purpose and values.
Abbi says: “Delegating could improve the business in many ways, from customer acquisition and retention to speed or quality of work. But you need to be a confident manager and learn diplomacy and tact, as well as motivational cheerleading. If you’ve done a task for a long time, that can also be a challenge. I needed much persuading to let go of my social-media content creation. But sometimes done is better than perfect.”
How do you delegate?
“When recruiting, we ask three questions,” says Martin. “How do we want candidates to behave, and to think about our business? And how could we measure that? Because trust is earned through evidence. Aligning recruits with the answers, with clear deliverables, helps keep them on board and trusted. We then appoint ourselves to coach and motivate them. But if you realise you can't trust new recruits, or they’re not capable or suitable, change them quickly.”
Paul says you can minimise the trust issue by giving trust. “The greatest mistake in delegation is to check up on your team member all the time,” he says. “Paying someone and doing the job yourself is pointless.”
How advice can help
Your business plan will help you see where delegation will impact the business most.
Martin says: “Good management information will show you how delegating tasks will impact each measurement.
As a start-up owner, you may be facing delegation dilemmas for the first time. But mentors, coaches and advisers may have seen those problems many times in other firms and know how to fix them quickly.
Martin says: “Many start-up leaders want to control everything. But you must look at where you spend your time. What generates most value to the business? Is that your skillset, and do you enjoy doing it? Any minute you're not working in those core areas is probably a minute wasted. Everything else, you can drop, delegate, outsource or redesign.”
Contact us
Talk to us today to review your business plan and identify the right time to grow your business by recruiting.
Read time: 3 min read
Learning how to delegate can be a tough challenge for owners of a fast-growing young company. They frequently start by doing everything, from bookkeeping and marketing to mopping the floors. The reward of this, divided by their work hours, often equals less than the national minimum wage.
What is the purpose of delegating?
Delegation is essential to scale your business. Without it, the business leader may fall into the trap of becoming a constraint on growth and their role being less that of an entrepreneur and more that of a low-paid worker.
In addition, once you start generating revenue, you will also be working hard to complete the work and could reach capacity quickly. You could spend too much time working in the business rather than on it.
Martin Brown, CEO of Elephants Child, says: “If you don't break that cycle, you're creating a glass ceiling. You must change how you do things or you’ll never get to lead through the next phases of growth.”
Delegation is critical for your wellbeing, too. Trusting others with tasks you don’t enjoy or that add too much stress helps you balance work and personal priorities, and preserve your quality of life.
Abbi Head, PR and Design Consultant at Little PR Rock Marketing, says: “As you grow, you must let go of tasks that other people could do faster or better. For example, I needed to source design work as I was doing increasing amounts of copywriting, which was conflicting. Taking on every aspect of the business will be overwhelming. Delegating allows for increased downtime that will make you more relaxed and productive.”
When and where should I delegate?
Martin says the way to answer this is to create a clear purpose and long-term strategic plan for your business, then break that down into three- and one-year plans. Then give clarity to the roles and simple steps needed to deliver in line with the business’s purpose.
“These plans will make it clear when you need to recruit,” he says. “It’ll show you what monies you need and what return you could get from that investment in the short and long term.”
You can delegate to existing employees, recruit for roles or outsource to third parties, as well as redesigning, automating or dropping non-key activity.
Paul Owen, Managing Director of Sales Talent UK, says: “There are two ways of deciding where to delegate first. One is to ask which areas, if improved, would bring the most value to the company. The second is to ask which areas you can delegate most easily. In most cases, I’d suggest option two. If you delegate difficult functions first and have a bad experience, you’ll be reluctant to do it again. This will hold your company back. But once you’ve seen delegation work in action, you’ll become more confident.”
Some entrepreneurs worry no one else can do the job as well or as quickly as them. But you can overcome this trust problem by aligning your recruitment processes with your purpose and values.
Abbi says: “Delegating could improve the business in many ways, from customer acquisition and retention to speed or quality of work. But you need to be a confident manager and learn diplomacy and tact, as well as motivational cheerleading. If you’ve done a task for a long time, that can also be a challenge. I needed much persuading to let go of my social-media content creation. But sometimes done is better than perfect.”
How do you delegate?
“When recruiting, we ask three questions,” says Martin. “How do we want candidates to behave, and to think about our business? And how could we measure that? Because trust is earned through evidence. Aligning recruits with the answers, with clear deliverables, helps keep them on board and trusted. We then appoint ourselves to coach and motivate them. But if you realise you can't trust new recruits, or they’re not capable or suitable, change them quickly.”
Paul says you can minimise the trust issue by giving trust. “The greatest mistake in delegation is to check up on your team member all the time,” he says. “Paying someone and doing the job yourself is pointless.”
How advice can help
Your business plan will help you see where delegation will impact the business most.
Martin says: “Good management information will show you how delegating tasks will impact each measurement.
As a start-up owner, you may be facing delegation dilemmas for the first time. But mentors, coaches and advisers may have seen those problems many times in other firms and know how to fix them quickly.
Martin says: “Many start-up leaders want to control everything. But you must look at where you spend your time. What generates most value to the business? Is that your skillset, and do you enjoy doing it? Any minute you're not working in those core areas is probably a minute wasted. Everything else, you can drop, delegate, outsource or redesign.”
Contact us
Talk to us today to review your business plan and identify the right time to grow your business by recruiting.
Read time: 3 min read
Learning how to delegate can be a tough challenge for owners of a fast-growing young company. They frequently start by doing everything, from bookkeeping and marketing to mopping the floors. The reward of this, divided by their work hours, often equals less than the national minimum wage.
What is the purpose of delegating?
Delegation is essential to scale your business. Without it, the business leader may fall into the trap of becoming a constraint on growth and their role being less that of an entrepreneur and more that of a low-paid worker.
In addition, once you start generating revenue, you will also be working hard to complete the work and could reach capacity quickly. You could spend too much time working in the business rather than on it.
Martin Brown, CEO of Elephants Child, says: “If you don't break that cycle, you're creating a glass ceiling. You must change how you do things or you’ll never get to lead through the next phases of growth.”
Delegation is critical for your wellbeing, too. Trusting others with tasks you don’t enjoy or that add too much stress helps you balance work and personal priorities, and preserve your quality of life.
Abbi Head, PR and Design Consultant at Little PR Rock Marketing, says: “As you grow, you must let go of tasks that other people could do faster or better. For example, I needed to source design work as I was doing increasing amounts of copywriting, which was conflicting. Taking on every aspect of the business will be overwhelming. Delegating allows for increased downtime that will make you more relaxed and productive.”
When and where should I delegate?
Martin says the way to answer this is to create a clear purpose and long-term strategic plan for your business, then break that down into three- and one-year plans. Then give clarity to the roles and simple steps needed to deliver in line with the business’s purpose.
“These plans will make it clear when you need to recruit,” he says. “It’ll show you what monies you need and what return you could get from that investment in the short and long term.”
You can delegate to existing employees, recruit for roles or outsource to third parties, as well as redesigning, automating or dropping non-key activity.
Paul Owen, Managing Director of Sales Talent UK, says: “There are two ways of deciding where to delegate first. One is to ask which areas, if improved, would bring the most value to the company. The second is to ask which areas you can delegate most easily. In most cases, I’d suggest option two. If you delegate difficult functions first and have a bad experience, you’ll be reluctant to do it again. This will hold your company back. But once you’ve seen delegation work in action, you’ll become more confident.”
Some entrepreneurs worry no one else can do the job as well or as quickly as them. But you can overcome this trust problem by aligning your recruitment processes with your purpose and values.
Abbi says: “Delegating could improve the business in many ways, from customer acquisition and retention to speed or quality of work. But you need to be a confident manager and learn diplomacy and tact, as well as motivational cheerleading. If you’ve done a task for a long time, that can also be a challenge. I needed much persuading to let go of my social-media content creation. But sometimes done is better than perfect.”
How do you delegate?
“When recruiting, we ask three questions,” says Martin. “How do we want candidates to behave, and to think about our business? And how could we measure that? Because trust is earned through evidence. Aligning recruits with the answers, with clear deliverables, helps keep them on board and trusted. We then appoint ourselves to coach and motivate them. But if you realise you can't trust new recruits, or they’re not capable or suitable, change them quickly.”
Paul says you can minimise the trust issue by giving trust. “The greatest mistake in delegation is to check up on your team member all the time,” he says. “Paying someone and doing the job yourself is pointless.”
How advice can help
Your business plan will help you see where delegation will impact the business most.
Martin says: “Good management information will show you how delegating tasks will impact each measurement.
As a start-up owner, you may be facing delegation dilemmas for the first time. But mentors, coaches and advisers may have seen those problems many times in other firms and know how to fix them quickly.
Martin says: “Many start-up leaders want to control everything. But you must look at where you spend your time. What generates most value to the business? Is that your skillset, and do you enjoy doing it? Any minute you're not working in those core areas is probably a minute wasted. Everything else, you can drop, delegate, outsource or redesign.”
Contact us
Talk to us today to review your business plan and identify the right time to grow your business by recruiting.