Why You Need to Delegate, and How to Actually Do It

Everyone talks about the necessity of delegation, but it isn’t always easy to find a good process for how to actually delegate. Yes, delegation is essential, but the platitude isn’t very helpful without guidance about how to achieve it. This week, I’m sharing why delegation matters, as well as some ways to achieve meaningful delegation.

WHY DELEGATE?

Delegation allows business owners and managers to work on their business rather than in it. Once I figured out how to delegate in my shop, we added a million dollars in revenue to our business per year. That’s why delegation is essential. Without it, you’ll never grow past your personal capacity.

Press play to learn what delegation looks like in my shop and why it matters:

I used to try to delegate by giving someone an activity.

Build this. Mill that.

Delegation is not seeing something that needs to be done and assigning it to an employee. Delegating is changing the conversation with your employees altogether. It’s about getting to the root of the problem to figure out how a process or system works. 

Once you understand how something works, you can begin to standardize it and put a person in a role to own that thing as his or her own. Delegation is about getting your employees to take ownership of their area or their job function.

Press play to see how I delegate in my shop:

HOW TO DELEGATE

When you find something that you need to take off your plate, think about leading questions that you can ask your employees about the task.

What’s it going to take to get you to own this area? What would it take for you to take this process and make it your own?

Get down to the root to understand your employee’s perspective of how he or she sees the activity or process. Seeing how something works from your employee’s perspective can totally change how you delegate processes and systems. 

Meaningful delegation converts you from a boss, someone who just dictates tasks, into a coach. 

Coaches may not be on the field catching the ball and tagging out the runner, but they put their players in a situation where they know what’s going on. The players have practiced, they know their roles, and they’re ready to play the game. A coach’s purpose is to guide and motivate, not to dictate. 

THE BEST THING ABOUT MEANINGFUL DELEGATION

The biggest benefit of delegating has to do with the human aspect of it. 

I became a business owner because I love my craft, and I wanted to own my business. I like having employees and growing my shop. I like the challenge of being an owner. 

If you’re not delegating and you’re not growing your operation and your employees, then you’re just trapping yourself in another job. If you own a job rather than a business, then you have all of the stress of a regular job, plus the pressure of managing the finances, employees, and every other owner-specific task of the business. You have all of the pressure and stress, with none of the benefits. 

Owning a job rather than a business takes all of the fun out of being an owner. Delegating has freed me up to do more of what I love, which is running and growing my business. 

Building a team of highly motivated workers makes delegation a breeze. Download my free resource to get started and get in touch if you have any questions.