delegationDefinition of Delegation:

Verb – Entrust (a task or responsibility) to another person, typically one who is less senior than oneself: “he delegates routine tasks”.

Source: Google

Many of our readers run small businesses but do they run them effectively?  Do you run your small business like a large multi-national?  I’m thinking here that the Managing Director of a large company wouldn’t handle all of these tasks: HR, Administration, Marketing, Sales and Business Development but would focus on his core skills and delegate the rest.

This business principle can be applied to smaller companies as well.  Why struggle with sending mail-shots or proofing documents when these things can be delegated to someone who can do these efficiently? Thus leaving the Managing Director to sell or develop his product.

It not only improves your reputation as a manager (demonstrates trust within others) but provides development opportunities for your team.

delegationFirst you need to decide on what you can delegate.  You could make a list of your tasks putting them into one of three columns:

  1. outsource/delegate
  2. core role responsibilities
  3. unsure

The tasks and duties that you can easily handover should be the start of your delegation (these can be things like uploading documentation, changing formats, extracts or inputting data etc) and put in column 1.

Then analyse what you were hired to do (or what you set your business up to do) – these core activities should be the things that you hold onto (i.e. put in column 2).

The tasks that end up in the unsure column could be handed over eventually but you will need to understand the skills of the person you are entrusting with these duties.

You need to invest effort up front when delegating but over time you will see the benefits when you save time and can focus on the more important aspects of your role.

At Red Desk, we provide Business Support to local busy executives who have delegated some tasks to us.  We can handle ad-hoc requests, project-based work or regular tasks.

In short, don’t be a martyr and do everything yourself.  Remember, surround yourself with smart people!

Virtual AssistanceIf you need any help then you can contact me on:

mel@reddesk.co.uk

Find me on Twitter @reddeskVA

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www.reddesk.co.uk

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