We know the benefits and goal of delegation — to build collaborative teams who can share the workload, ideally with team contributing with their unique strengths.

But in practice, we often hold onto work because we find it hard to get started or for a variety of fears: the work won’t be done up to par, it will take me longer to assign than quickly do it myself, this is work no one wants to do, it will cost too much, what if this person can’t be trusted, and so on.

As your business grows and you take on more (more team, more responsibilities/complexities, more clients) you need to think about your time differently.

In early stages you are the only one. Later, when you have team, fully 40% up to 60% of your time needs to be available for future-oriented work (like closing/negotiating new opportunities) and being available for your team (to clear obstacles, provide input to keep them moving forward). This can be tough when you are “the expert” but absolutely necessary to keep your business growing!

SO WHAT DO I DELEGATE!!

As leaders we get it and want to delegate more — but what should I delegate?

I’ve collected a variety of resources, exercises and books over the years with insights and tips. There isn’t a one size fits all answer. Each leader and team have their unique strengths that they bring to the table. But I found this list in Harvard Business Review many years ago really helpful for breaking down the different types of “work” you do:

Small: Tasks that seem inconsequential to tackle but they add up. Beware: They are not important or urgent. Even if they only take a few minutes they end up taking you out of the flow of more strategic work. For example, registering for a conference or event, adding meetings to your calendar, these types of tasks add up, take you out of the flow of other work, and have a sneaky way of becoming more - now you are center of finding a new meeting time that works for everyone…
Tedious/Routine: Tasks that are relatively simple probably are not the best use of your time. Very straightforward tasks can (and should) be handled by anyone but you.
For example, updating the data/KPIs in your presentation deck other routine weekly, monthly work/reports.
Time-Consuming: Tasks that, although they may be important and even somewhat complex, are time-consuming and do not require you to do the initial 80% of research. You can easily step in when the task is 80% complete and give approval and input on next steps.
Teachable: Tasks that although nuanced and complicated-seeming at first and likely made up of several smaller subtasks, can be translated into a system and delegated. You still can provide quality checks and final approval. For example, teaching one of your direct reports how to draft the presentation deck for the monthly all-hands meeting, and even how to be the one to deliver those updates to the team.
Terrible At/Not My Strength: Tasks that not only do not fall into your strengths, but an area where you feel unequipped. You take far longer than people skilled in this area, and still produce a subpar result. For example, non-techy people doing “techy” work; creating the visual design and graphics for those PowerPoint slides, your podcast, newsletter, social posts, etc.
Time Sensitive: Tasks that are time-sensitive but compete with other priorities; there isn’t enough time to do them all at once, so you delegate an important and time-sensitive task so that it can be done in parallel to your other deadlines. These can become important teachable moments.

My challenge to you —> track your work by category and identify tasks or groups of tasks to transition to your team. (See the previous issue of the Positive for tips on how to delegate) .

Business owners —> In practice, delegation is what will allow you to scale your business.

Once you have proven your business model and your goal is to continue expand and grow, you need to move beyond being ‘the one’ doing the work.

Hiring more help, while it does make a dent in the budget, will help you far out-earn the cost of creating a team.

Are you getting the most from your team?
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