Why Delegating Is So Hard
Most entrepreneurs and managers admit that delegating a task is one of the hardest things they have to do. You’ve heard it before: “if you want it right, you have to do it yourself.” While that may be true in some cases, just because you’re the best at something doesn’t mean that you need to do it yourself. We all have 24-hour days and if you do everything yourself you’re putting a limit to how big your business can grow.
Focus on the Highest Revenue-Generating Tasks
Let’s say you’re a web designer. If you design all the websites your company is hired to do, you’ll spend almost all your time doing design work and won’t have any free time to get more clients. As a business owner, you should focus on the tasks that generate the highest revenues, and in most cases that is finding new clients. Hire a great designer and work on growing your business.
Hire People that Are Better than You and Let Them Do Their Job
Having great people on your team makes all the difference. If you hire whoever is willing to work for less, forget about delegating; you’ll always have to micromanage them. Hire people that are better than you and let them do their job. But remember: they’re not you. They’ll do things differently and this is not a bad thing. Avoid being a control freak; explain to them the desired outcome and let them choose the path they want to get there. Don’t expect other people to work just like you. That’s not how it works.
Have Realistic Expectations
When people do something for the first time, they almost always make mistakes. Expecting them to do everything perfectly the fist time wouldn’t be realistic. After all, it took you a few weeks or months to do it as well as you do it now. When you need to tell people they made a mistake, start by showing your appreciation for all the great effort they put into something, explain how they can do it better next time and finish by thanking them for doing such great work.
