Where do I even begin with this? As Entrepreneurs, we always hear about the importance of delegation. The importance of valuing our time.
But, we don’t always do it… right?
So I went to an expert on delegation and wanted to share the lessons from Dan Kennedy on mastering delegation.
Mastering Delegation
- Define what is to be done.
- Be certain the delegatee understands what is to be done.
- Explain why it is to be done as you are prescribing it to be done.
- Teach how it is to be done without micro-micro-managing.
- Be sure the delegatee understands the how-to process.
- Set the deadline for completion or progress report.
- Be sure you have an agreement to the date or time and method.
This was taught to me by Dan Kennedy in the book No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs.
Let’s break these down a little bit more.
Step 1) Define what is to be done.
In order to achieve maximum success, we need to first identify the stuff that needs to be done. This is not an easy task.
You may or may not be aware of the stuff that you’re incredible at. You know, the stuff you’d probably do even if you weren’t paid to do it. The stuff that you get in the zone, or flow state, when you do.
But then there’s the other side of the coin. The stuff that moves the business forward, but drains your energy like a vampire seeing the sunlight.
does that make sense? I mean, vampires hate the sun, right?
Anyway, the stuff that moves the needle in your business. You probably do a lot of it pretty half-assed if we’re being honest here.
An honest self-analysis is important at this stage. If you’re reading this and you’re an entrepreneur, you know that you can do anything and everything inside of your business… because you had to do it at one point.
So why would you ever pay someone to do something if you know how long it takes, and you know you can do it?
This question hurts me when I think about it because I’ve spent so many hours doing what I have in my time tracking app labeled as “Website Stuff I suck at” not even lying… look
That’s 28 hours of time I’ve tracked (since I started tracking more of my stuff). 28 hours doing stuff I know I’m not good at. Stuff that makes me want to turn in the towel, quit being an entrepreneur and just go back to bartending.
You might have stuff that you still do that you know you shouldn’t. Starting to track this stuff and acknowledging it exists is one of the first steps to fixing it.
The first step for mastering delegation is for you to start with identifying the stuff that needs to get done for your business to grow. So grab a pen and paper and write out everything that you do to grow your business.
Step 2) Be certain the delegatee understands what is to be done.
the only way to advance in any business is to keep delegating.
“Many, many things can be delegated to people who will not do them the way you would, won’t do them as perfectly as you would, but will wind up with the same result. Every one of these things should be delegated.” – Dan Kennedy
My interpretation of this is that there’s always someone who can replace me. My job as the entrepreneur is to make sure I provide the end goal to the person who will replace me.
The easiest analogy I can think of for this is playing basketball. There are many ways to score a basket, but the goal is the same. To score a basket.
If someone dunks the ball, that’s 2 points. If someone shoots a lay-up that’s 2 points. You want to make the task as simple to understand as possible so that when the person taking over for me steps in, they know the goal.
Step 3) Explain why it is to be done as you are prescribing it to be done.
There might be tasks that need to be done in a specific way.
For example I’ve built up a large amount of followers over on Facebook for a variety of different niches. I’ve come up with a system that works over and over again in different industries for growing an audience. So, when I teach the ideas to others, I explain why something needs to be done in a certain way.
When someone you are delegating a task to understands why it should be done someway, they know what the reasoning is behind it.
This doesn’t mean that they won’t be able to identify ways to improve it either. They can and will find ways to make it better. But at first, they need to understand why a task needs to be done.
Step 4) Teach how it is to be done without micro-micro-managing.
This is a tough step. You are going to want to stop someone and say “no, no, no! You’re doing it all wrong!” and then you’ll want to step in and do it for them.
Don’t do that.
At this stage a person is still learning, so they are going to make mistakes. These mistakes are good because it will allow you to improve the system and the training over time.
You want to be there for the person and help with guidance and empowering them to keep doing the task. If you step in and do it for them at this stage, you’re basically telling the person that you don’t believe they can do the task.
Step 5) Be sure the delegatee understands the how-to process.
Making sure that the person who is to be doing the task (delegatee) is important at this stage. You want to both be on the same page and know that the delegatee understands how to do the task.
For example, I have a certain style template that I like to use when I have someone create a blog post on my niche websites. When someone I hire starts off with me, they are given a template to go off of so that they understand how to write the article.
If you have an office and a receptionist, there should be a process in place for handling calls. So in that example, you want to know that the delegatee knows the “how to” for answering the call and booking appointments.
Step 6) Set the deadline for completion or progress report.
This is something that I still to this day struggle with. Personally, if I need to accomplish a task, I know that I can set aside the time and get it done in 3-7 days.
Other people aren’t the same as I am though, which is good. That’s where I’ve come across problems.
I have struggled with setting clear deadlines for completion or progress reports and that tends to hurt me. So, when you are at this stage you want to make sure that you know when you want a task to be completed by. Or you want to make sure that you set up periodic progress reports that are coming in at certain times.
There are some well-known entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk who make insane demands on their employees and it sometimes works out for them. But, you know your employees and you know when they can accomplish a task.
Step 7) Be sure you have an agreement to the date or time and method.
After you pick the deadline for the task to be complete, you need to make sure that the delegatee is on the same page as you.
You want to clearly agree upon the deadline and/or progress reports. If you ignore this, you’ll most likely build up resentment between you and the delegatee.
You want to have confirmation from you and the delegatee that the task will be completed by a certain day and time.
This was taught to me by Dan Kennedy in the book No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs.
