By David CraryOwning a business involves a lot of risk. One way we try to feel more in control is to do everything ourselves. Unfortunately, we can’t. If we don’t learn to delegate tasks, we will get really tired and never succeed. Here are five tips I picked up along the way to help green industry business owners succeed at delegating.
1. Invest time now to save time later
I always felt like I didn’t have enough time to train someone to do things I was used to doing. When you have too much to do, how do you make time to train someone to take over some of your tasks?
Well, you have to put off things that can be put off and put in a bit of extra time while you train the employee. Plan ahead and write out what training you will do each day. When you want to give up and just do the task yourself, keep reminding yourself of how nice it will be when the training is done.
2. Set standards and train well
I had trouble delegating sometimes because I thought that no one else would do the job as well as me- either they wouldn’t be capable, or they just wouldn’t care enough to do it right. The solution I found was to find someone who was a great fit for the job and train them to my high standards right away. Make sure you communicate exactly how and when you want the job done while training and make a checklist for the trainee to follow in the future, so they will always remember what is expected. Do everything you can to set your employees up for success.
3. Check progress regularly to feel more in-control
After you get some tasks handed off to your employees, you may start to feel your business slipping out of your hands. You might not know everything that’s going on anymore. You may worry that people aren’t following through with their responsibilities. You will be tempted to grab everything back, but just wait! You don’t have to do it yourself. You just have to check in with your people to see how they’re doing. Better yet, have your employees check in with you at a regular time to give you updates on their progress or to fill you in on important company stats. Set up a plan so your people are communicating all you need to know, so you feel in control and run your company well.
4. Start with small tasks and build up to larger ones
Don’t start out by hiring a new operations manager to take over everything you have been doing in your green industry business. Start small. Pick one task that you could delegate to someone. Train a competent employee to do that task and bask in the joy of not having to do it anymore. Your employees will slowly build up their skills and be ready for harder jobs. Also, you will build up your confidence in your staff’s abilities and be ready to delegate more.
5. Learn to enjoy helping others succeed
When you run a business, there is so much to do that you may have to delegate tasks that you really enjoy. Choose to do the tasks that only you can do. Keep some tasks that you genuinely love, but not too many. Learn to appreciate seeing someone else enjoy that task. Start to really enjoy watching your workers as they progress and succeed at what they do. If you try to do too much, you will be too rushed to enjoy those fun tasks anyway.
Delegating can be tricky in the green industry, but if you train and plan well, delegating can go very smoothly. Most of what stops us from delegating is just in our heads. Remind yourself regularly of the truth about delegating: it will make you better at what you do and make your job easier. Just keep at it until you succeed.
Now that you've decided to delegate some tasks, it's time to find some great employees to delegate them to. To help, download our free eBook, How to Hire the Best Employees for your Green Industry Business.
