The good news? your business is thriving! The bad news? You’re still doing it all.
Even though you have staff, you’re still handling many of the daily operations yourself — emails and phone calls, bids and vendors, marketing, and scheduling.
You’re not able to plan for the growth of your business because your daily agenda is so full.
If you want to get to the next level, it’s time to delegate.
But here’s the problem:
When you’ve been successful at getting things done on your own, it can be difficult to imagine handing anything off. And if you happen to be a control freak — ahem, you know who you are — it’s even harder. It’s totally normal to worry that someone else won’t do it ‘right’ or handle situations and clients as you would.
So if delegating freaks you out, here are a few ways to make it less scary.
Assess — delegate by outsourcing and automating
Before you delegate to your staff, start with the easy stuff and leverage technology to support your business.
Analyse your processes and operations to identify what could be outsourced or automated. What are the tasks and workflows that you (or your team) perform repeatedly — daily, weekly or monthly? If you’re doing it more than once, there’s probably ‘an app for that.’
You could start with email templates for common communications with clients. Consider integration software to centralise client data and workflows.
If you’re like many small business owners, you’ve developed systems on the fly for managing your finances and tracking your business expenses. You might have a combination of spreadsheets, file folders stuffed with receipts and tax forms, and possibly a scribbly calendar on your wall to manage scheduling your staff.
Now is the perfect time to explore an online payroll and HR software like Clear Books, which streamlines your payroll and makes employee scheduling easy and efficient.
Build knowledge — know your team
One of the toughest parts of delegating is trusting your team.
Now that you’ve outsourced and automated like a champ, it’s time to gather your staff and identify what’s still on your to-do list.
It won’t be easy to delegate these tasks if you don’t have confidence in your team’s skills. But that confidence comes from knowing your employee’s strengths, challenges, and passions.
So build a positive team culture by being transparent and honest with each other.
Start with what you’re each good at and what you love doing for the business — then move on to those tasks and operations that you struggle with, or that you find challenging. The best teams know how to support each other through struggles so that your client’s experience is always top notch.
This open dialogue is information that will help you delegate the best task to the right employee based on their abilities, strengths, and interests.
When you know your team well, it’s less scary to delegate because you’re passing that task to someone who’s capable, passionate, and has the skillset to succeed.
Delegate without scaring yourself — or your clients
Delegating nightmare scenario: your client suffers because someone drops the ball — a deadline missed, an email that goes unanswered, or a deliverable that isn’t up to the standards the client expects. The thought of even one of those outcomes probably makes you cringe!
One of the toughest things about delegating is the fear that the job won’t get done — or get done ‘right.’
Two principles of good management are key here: communication (so the job gets done to your satisfaction) and accountability (so the job gets done on time).
Communication
Communicate with your employee so they understand the task and expectations — both yours and the client’s.
Especially if it’s the first time you’ve assigned this task, be sure you’ve granted access to any accounts or client information associated with the job. Talk your employee through any processes or systems you’ve used — share what’s worked well for you and any of the challenges you’ve encountered.
Be sure your employee knows where to turn for help if they get stuck.
You want them to come to you with the big questions — but to know how to find their own solutions too. For example, if you’re using Clear Books online software for accounting and payroll, we have loads of online help guides and friendly phone or virtual support. If your employee knows how to access these from the start, delegating will be that much more efficient.
And don’t forget to communicate with your client when you change a workflow or assign a new lead for their project. An email or phone introduction will reassure the client that they’re (still) in good hands.
Accountability
Accountability ensures the job gets done on time and to the required specifications, and it’s not just that final deadline that matters. Depending on your employee’s experience, it might help to map out all the tasks that are associated with their assignment.
Working backwards from the final deadline, schedule check-ins along the way to be sure everything is proceeding as it should be. This way you won’t have any unpleasant surprises — and neither will your client.
Delegate to grow your business
We know that delegation can be a daunting prospect but when you’re able to hand aspects of your business over to members of a team you trust, you free up time to focus on the big picture — charting the course towards your vision of success.
Ready to learn more about how you can delegate Payroll and HR to Clear Books? Start today with a free 30-day trial when you click here!
Clear Books Payroll Software
Clear Books is an award-winning online accounting & payroll software for small businesses.
Clear Books Payroll makes it easy to calculate pay, produce payslips, track employee absences and report to HMRC. Save time and pay all your staff at once with our click-to-pay feature in Clear Books.
Clear Books was launched in London in 2008 and offers a free 30-day trial with free ongoing support and bank feeds. We’re rated as ‘Excellent’ on Trustpilot.
Get a free 30-day trial of Clear Books Payroll software here.
