If you want to expand, you will need to multiply yourself. This will require you to have employees and then delegate work to them. This is one area that very few business owners do effectively. They try, but they soon give up because their employees make mistakes and take much longer then they do to finish the work.
I often hear from business owners that they would like to expand, but they just can’t find good employees. My answer is always the same: “That’s funny – your competitors have found a way to get good employees!”
The truth is that their competitors have learned how to hire effectively, train effectively, and delegate effectively. Since you have employees now, learning how to delegate effectively is one of the quicker ways to free up your time so that you can work on improving your business and increasing profits.
Effective delegation requires you to:
- Properly define the task and the required result.
- Put a deadline on every task.
- Have a method for progress reports and follow-up. I used to use a delegation book. But I now use an online program that allows me to track employee progress easily. (Check out www.smartsheet.com).
- Don’t just delegate the job. Delegate the authority to complete the task.
- Hold weekly progress meetings.
- Don’t accept the “monkey” back! If, or should I say, when they come back to you with questions, insist that they come prepared with possible solutions.
- Understand and accept that mistakes happen when you delegate authority. Deal with them. Do more training. But don’t stop delegating!