I often found myself thinking, “If only there were 2 of me.” I just needed one more person that understood deadlines, made sure everything got done, paid attention to detail, loved sales, that was efficient.
It sounded simple enough!
But the real problem was that I was the queen of micromanaging, and always questioned whether stuff would get done, get done well, and be on time.
I had to figure this out, I was burnt out and in constant overdrive just trying to keep up. My health challenge was a huge wake-up call plus it was an incentive to figure out how I was going to move forward before I sabotaged my health recovery and my company.
If you are a super busy, stretched-too-thin businesswoman that is juggling a business, family and trying to fit in some fun then I know you can relate. I also know you think you got this and that you can handle it all, but at the end of the day, you pay a price for not letting go and delegating what you can let go of.
So, trust the process and find some support for yourself.
The following are the powerful steps to letting go, the step-by-step to delegating with confidence so you can see the abilities that your employees have AND free up some of your time.
- Delegation List – make 3 columns on a piece of paper and label them: Easy Tasks, Medium Tasks, and Stretch Tasks.
- Easy Tasks – Start with this list, it is what it sounds like, tasks that are easy to hand off that take time but are easy for someone else to do, try to come up with 15 easy tasks that you can easily let go of.
- Medium Tasks – This list is the next group of tasks that are a little more detailed to hand off, but you know you don’t need to be doing them anymore and you know you need to let them go. Try to list at least 8 medium tasks.
- Stretch Tasks – The stretch tasks are tasks that you do that take a fair amount of time, they can be repetitive and easily transferable once you decide you don’t want to be doing them anymore, find at least 3 stretch tasks.
2. Train & Trust – Go back to all the tasks you just listed and put a name to each task, the person you pick to do each task must feel like the right fit, something that they could naturally do. If you don’t think you have the perfect fit, then pick the best person and train them.
You must make sure your trusted personnel are fully trained on their new responsibilities and set clear expectations for this new task before you can trust them to carry out the task you have given them.
3. Check-ins! – To stay on track while in training, set up check-in times to make sure your employees stay on the right path. This helps ease anxiety when stepping into new roles for both parties plus gives your staff the time to show you their work, ask questions, and review if they have come up with a simpler way of completing the task.
4. Let Go! – Now that you have a delegation plan, it is time to let go of controlling, micromanaging, and perfectionism and embrace trust.
Trust the delegating process since you know it’s the best way for you to free up time.
Let’s review:
- You made a list of all the tasks you want to delegate
- You decided who is the best fit for each task
- You have a training plan laid out
- You have check-in dates scheduled
- You will let go and trust the process
These steps are the beginning steps of delegation. Once you embrace this process, it is so easy to just keep delegating all the tasks that come up that you do not need to be doing.
The bonus, you free up your time to work on the parts of your business that inspire you instead of the smaller tasks that you can get lost in.
Trust me from one who used to micromanage and try to control, IT IS A HUGE RELIEF ONCE YOU TRUST AND LET GO!
Not sure where to get started? Book for your free strategy session and learn some great business insights. You can Download your free copy of my “Take 5 to Answer 5” – How to prioritize your time and projects to get your sh*t done!