17 July Mastering the Art of Delegation July 17, 2019 By sma Business Tips business growth, entrepreneur, time management, training 0 MASTERING THE ART OF DELEGATION July 17, 2019 | Business Tips | training, business growth, time management, entrepreneur By Zach Vesper As a small business owner, sometimes it’s hard to hand responsibilities to your employees. After all, you built your business by yourself and know what works and what doesn’t. As your business develops, though, you’ll reach a point where handling everything yourself doesn’t make sense any more, and can even stifle future growth. It’s one thing to understand this, but learning how to delegate effectively is something else. Here are 5 things to keep in mind when assigning tasks to your employees. 1. Be mindful of the tasks you’re assigning. Through thoughtful delegation of tasks, you and your employees can all accomplish more to push your business to the next level. Take stock of the things you do on a daily basis and determine whether these tasks are making the most of your skills and experience (you need to be very honest with yourself here). If not, these are perfect opportunities for delegation to someone with a different, more applicable skill set. And since you don’t want “delegation” to be a task unto itself, make sure to build it into your current workflows with a solid project management plan. 2. Be an educator. This may seem counterintuitive, but sometimes the way forward isn’t buckling down, nose to the grindstone. Instead, it’s taking the time you’d usually devote to a task yourself and teaching someone else how to do it. You probably feel like you’re too busy, but here’s the thing—you’ll always be too busy if you don’t enlist help, and always being busy is the road to burnout. The key is to train your employees effectively and trust them to do the work, so you can spend more time on the tasks that work to your strengths. 3. Learn to step back. It’s easy to think that your way is always the best way, but what’s harder is learning that there are many ways to solve a problem. Truly effective managers give their teams a set of clear expectations, but also allow for independent thought when it comes to how to achieve them. If you’ve hired well, you should be relying on your employees’ expertise and initiative to solve the problems you didn’t even know you had. 4. Provide feedback. Your employees aren’t mind readers, so maintaining healthy communication is key to making sure everyone is performing according to your expectations. And while it’s important to correct when your employee needs improvement, it’s also vital to tell them what they’re doing well. When you recognize and reward, you’re fostering an environment where exceptional performance can continue. 5. Stick with it. When you’re teaching an employee to take on additional responsibility, expect the road to be a bit bumpy. Mistakes are bound to happen, but when they do, don’t take that as your cue to grab the reins again. Instead, look at where your process broke down, make the necessary corrections and help your employee get back on track. The corporate team at National Property Inspections can help you succeed in the business. At NPI, we’re all about helping our franchisees grow their businesses! If you have questions about how to implement a delegation strategy, don't hesitate to contact the NPI marketing team! For those interested in starting their own home inspection franchise, call Julie Erickson at 1-800-333-9807 x 24. We help you succeed in the property inspection business. About the Author Zach Vesper, SEO and Marketing Specialist Zach brings more than six years of SEO experience to the table, making him your go-to web optimization specialist--he knows how to help your website reach the first page! He's always more than happy to answer your questions about all things Google. Zach is a film buff, an old-fashioned connoisseur and an avid reader of science fiction. When he’s not working, he’s hanging out with his wife, Stepha, and basset hound, Frank. Comments are closed.