This article was written by Barry Mc Kinley, SCORE Orange County Business Mentor
One of the major differences between a small business that doesn’t grow and a company that is constantly growing is that the management has mastered the Art of Delegation. Using effective delegation allows many more tasks to get completed while developing more knowledgeable and inspired employees. If you are a sports fan you get frustrated and angry when your teams “super-star” hogs the ball and all the glory. To be effective in sports you have to play as a team, this is certainly no different in business. If you work on your own, there’s only a limited amount of what you can do, no matter how hard you work. Your growth and income becomes limited to the amount of hours in a day. You quickly will feel the pressure and work overload.
Without building your business via delegation if you become sick or take a vacation your business collapses. Nobody has any idea what to do nor has the confidence to try to do it. The smart manager is constantly challenging employees with new jobs and responsibilities. By effective delegation you are building a stronger team and are prepared in the event that a key employee leaves your company.
Over the years I have heard many excuses for not utilizing delegation, to list just a few;
· It takes too long to train the person
· I can do it better
· I don’t trust somebody else
· I don’t want them to know about my business
· I don’t want somebody trying to change things
Almost without exception I heard these responses from business owners who also told me almost in the same breath they were overworked and their business was not growing. Do you think that Steve Jobs build Apple by doing everything himself? Or about Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, or Stanley Messedup. Never heard of Stanley that is because he tried to do it all himself including meeting with the bankruptcy attorney for his company.
When to Delegate
To determine when delegation is most appropriate there are five key questions you need to ask yourself.
· Is it a task that somebody else can do, or is it critical you do it yourself?
· Does the skill provide an opportunity to grow and develop an employee’s skills?
· Is this a recurring job in the future either in this or a similar form?
· Do you have enough time to delegate the job effectively?
· Is this a task that I should delegate?
