Before I went on maternity leave, I made a list of all my responsibilities in the business. Wherever possible, I completed extra work that would carry the company through my absence. For the rest of the tasks, I created a delegation plan based on who I thought could do each job best.
As hard as it was to pass off critical tasks to other people, I think the process was good for the company because it forced me to free myself of work I should have delegated long ago. Now that I’m back in the office, the delegated tasks mean that I have time for business-building, long-term planning and other tasks that will expand the business.
If you want your home-based business to grow, you will need to master the art of delegation. Delegation is a powerful tool for expanding the capacity of your home-based business. People who use it find that their workload is more manageable and their business is more successful.
Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs fail to delegate out of a lack of knowing what to pass off, or a feeling that no one can complete tasks as well as they can. If you see yourself in this description, try the following techniques to start delegating some work.
– Invest in training. The fact that no one has the skills to complete a task you are handling doesn’t mean you should avoid delegation it means you should train. While building the skills of an employee requires an investment of time, that investment will pay off.
-Make a list. Delegation is easiest when you have a complete inventory of the work you do. There is something about seeing the tasks you do on paper that makes it easier to recognize work that can be offloaded. To make this list as extensive as possible, think through each day and analyze how you spend your time. Also review your calendar as a prompt for projects that may slip your mind.
– Recognize that B-plus is OK. Many entrepreneurs are perfectionists, and the desire to complete every task perfectly hinders delegation. In order to allow yourself to delegate, it is important to realize that not all work in your business needs to be completed at the A-plus level. Recognizing when good is OK in the place of great will enable you to see opportunities to delegate tasks.
– Don’t be afraid to fail. Even if you carefully monitor other workers, there is still a small chance that delegation will lead to mistakes in your business, angry clients and lost business. However, if you don’t delegate, you will hinder the growth of your business. Take a chance on delegation with confidence that you can fix any damage that may occur.
– Monitor closely. Some entrepreneurs plunge in too deeply when they decide to delegate and do not oversee projects properly, washing their hands of the work they pass to others. For delegation to succeed, you need to invest time in explaining projects carefully, make yourself available for questions during the project, and check work at the end of the project. While this takes time, it will pay off in better work.
– Recognize that you may learn something. If you have been working on your own for a while, you may be operating under the delusion that you know the best way to complete all tasks. A hidden benefit of delegating is that you may learn from the people you are working with, as they refine the process you have used and provide other valuable input. Be open to this input, even if you are usually the one to come up with all the answers.
Alice Bredin is author of the “Virtual Office Survival Handbook” (John Wiley & Sons) and a nationally syndicated columnist.
