What and when to delegate | Delegation

A clear sign that you have trouble managing your time: You work extremely long hours and you still don’t get enough of the important stuff done -- activities that create sales, income and new customers or clients - - while servicing your current commitments.

Solution: Make a list of the things that only you can do or should be doing for the success of your business. Be sure to include at least 30 minutes to an hour each day for thinking, planning and creating the next day’s to-do list. Then try to delegate everything else.

The Key Steps of Delegation

Deciding to delegate is a minor part of the battle. Doing it right is a much bigger challenge. According to Marc Mancini delegating poorly leads almost invariably to disappointment, frustration, inefficiency, and, often, failure. Then, the manager may blame the person to whom he or she delegated the task, causing bad feelings, and not improve the way he or she delegates, so the delegation problems continue, in a downward spiral.

Here are 12 steps for powerful delegation:

1. Identify the task to be delegated.

2. If necessary trace out, on paper, the assigned project’s flow.

3. Find the right person.

4. Explain the assignment.

5. Explain the benefits.

6. Specify your standards.

7. Discuss deadlines.

8. Set up a reporting method.

9. Encourage questions.

10. Conduct unscheduled status checks.

11. Evaluate results.

12. Praise/Suggest Improvements.

Business owners everywhere are working seven days a week, struggling to sell their products and services, as well as attending to all the daily tasks of keeping the business going. The paperwork alone can be a full time job. Few seek help, often saying, "I can't afford to hire someone...I barely make enough to pay myself!"

The truth is, you can't afford not to hire help for those mundane tasks. This is especially true if those tasks require expertise you don't have. Every minute you spend learning how to do something is precious time you could be spending on developing your business.

Self-made millionaire, Cory Rudl, said the best business decision he'd ever made was to hire someone to help him. Although he was paying out almost half his earnings to his employee, that move freed him to develop his business into a money making machine, to the tune of millions of dollars.

You can do the same for your business, and it won't cost half your earnings either. By creating "mini projects" you can hire a freelancer to do those routine chores and pay them for the hours you need them.

Creating those mini projects will take some effort at first. It means you have to stop and think before you tackle a task, "Is this something I have to do myself, or can I delegate this to someone else?" Even after getting started on a task, it's important to be aware of your time spent - if it takes you too long to do it, you're wasting your time! That's the signal to hire a freelancer who can do the job for you.

Although many freelancers can come to your business office, you can save even more money with "virtual assistants." The craze for virtual assistants has taken the Internet world by storm.

Virtual assistants are capable, competent people in every country who are looking for work they can do from their own office. And their rates are incredibly low. For $2 or $3 per hour, you can have your website developed, all your QuickBooks transactions entered, have a software program developed to make your life easier...the options are endless.

For a few more dollars per hour, you can hire the best available copywriters, marketing gurus, graphics designers...you name it. The key is to define your mini project, decide what you're willing to pay to have it done and get the word out.

The Internet is a great way to get the word out about your project. Websites such as www.GetaFreelancer.com, www.ScriptLance.com, www.Elance.com and www.RentaCoder.com have hundreds of professionals eager to work. Post your your mini project on these websites and you'll have 20 bidders or more in a few hours. In a very short time you'll be able to choose the best qualified professional for your project at your price.

So, if you're working in your business, doing everything from sales to bookkeeping, decide now to get help. If you want your business to grow, you can't afford not to.