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by: Seomul Evans
One of the most difficult aspects of small business ownership is delegating some of your
responsibility to others. The difficulty lies in the fact that your business is successful because
of your strong leadership and your ability to wear many hats at once. If that wasn’t the case, then
your business would have failed long ago. So there’s a certain logic in your desire to do all of
the work yourself; after all, if you want something done right, you should do it yourself. But
doing all of the work and retaining all of the responsibility is the short road to burnout. Here
are 3 keys to delegating that will save your business, and your sanity.
1. Don’t Be Such a Control Freak. Chances are that you’re most comfortable when
all decisions come from you. But you can only run your company this way for so long before you
become completely overwhelmed. Pick one or two of your key staff and let them make decisions on
their own, without your input. That way, if you’re unavailable for a time, business can still
continue. It’s certainly in your best interest to make sure they know exactly how you would make a
decision if you were present, but chances are that your most competent employees already have a
good idea of what you would do in many situations. Not only will you have fewer decisions to make,
but you’ll be tacitly communicating to your employees that you trust them to do the right thing.
That increases their job satisfaction and makes them more willing to take on increased
responsibility in the future. It’s a win-win for everyone.
2. Give Your Employees an Incentive. Take those one or two people whom you now
allow to make decisions on your behalf, and give them an incentive for their increased
responsibility. Maybe you want them to have a profit share from the divisions for which they are
responsible. Be sure to let them know how they are performing so they’ll know what to expect in the
form of shared profits.
3. Increase Responsibility. If you use high school or college interns in your
business, which is an extremely cost-effective way to increase your staffing, let one of your more
seasoned employees be responsible for those interns. Let those employees train and manage the
interns. This is a great way to give your employees added experience in human resources and
management. Your employees will get increased experience and you will have fewer individuals to
manage. You can probably think of other ways to increase the responsibilities of your current
employees.
The importance of delegating responsibility cannot be stressed enough. As your business grows, you
will find yourself becoming more and more busy, and less and less able to manage all of the tasks
that need to be done. There is really no way to avoid delegation if you want to have a successful
business, but the key is to delegate wisely. Groom one or two employees from the moment you hire
them so that they will be ready to take on added responsibility when the time comes.
Let them shadow you, train them to do some of the tasks that you do, and keep them in the loop
regarding major decisions. When they understand your thought processes and reasons for making the
decisions you do, they’ll be more prepared to make those decisions in your stead. While the idea of
delegation may be frightening at first, you’ll find yourself much more relaxed and able to
concentrate on growing your business rather than on the menial tasks that need to be taken care of.
So do yourself and your company a favor and learn to delegate. You’ll be on the fast track to
success in no time.
About The Author
Seomul Evans is an Internet marketing and SEO services expert:
http://www.seo-1-marketing-services.com
http://www.nexplore.com/search-engines.html
http://www.moetamani.com
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