No matter how talented an entrepreneur you are, you cannot do everything alone if you want to go far. Sooner or later in your growth journey, you’ll come to a point where you need more hands to get things going all at once. That is why delegating tasks or hiring new employees effectively is such an important part in all businesses. And, that is also why we dedicate this article to all leaders and managers who are having the same concerns.
When it comes to effective delegation and recruitment, it all boils down to these critical questions: When? What? Who? How?
1. When to delegate?
We know you might feel nervous at first to think about letting go and to admit that you need more help with some tasks. It’s human nature to want to keep everything under control and not trust anyone as much as ourselves. Therefore, many entrepreneurs tend to take on too many responsibilities thinking they can do it all and do it better off alone. However, our time, power, and abilities are limited, so we cannot do everything at the same time. Thus, when our company grows with more customers and more tasks to tackle, you need to recognize the urge to look for delegation before things turn into a disaster.
If you see one of these signs, it’s possibly time that you need to delegate certain tasks to someone else:
- You or someone in your company feels overwhelmed by the workload and cannot finish it within the regular work time, so you or they have to work in personal time and struggle to have a work-life balance.
- You or someone in your company is handling some responsibilities that you or they hate or lack of profession and knowledge to do well.
- There are important tasks needed for the business to move forward but not yet tackled by anyone. And, you know that those tasks can bring in more profits to the company than the cost of hiring someone to handle them.
2. What to delegate?
After you have gone over the moment of realization that you need to delegate tasks, you should go into details and identify what those tasks are. Make sure you dissect and write down precisely not only the role but also its responsibilities and requirements for both you and the candidate to understand clearly what is on the table, which bring faster and more accurate recruitment. It can include certain criteria like: knowledge, certifications, experience, physical conditions, characteristics and so on.
Referring to the signs of when to delegate above, the delegated tasks are not just things that no one is currently handling, but also what no one in your company is good at and loves. What you need to delegate could be something that someone is tackling to fill in the gap but they are bad at it or hate doing it.
So, remember that everyone in your company should be doing what they love and are good at for the best work results. Therefore, if you see a necessary task for growth that is not taken by anyone with sufficient interest and ability for it, you need to delegate it to some other person.
3. Who to delegate to?
The next question you need to ask yourself is who to delegate those tasks to? That person needs to meet these requirements:
- They need to be good at and fond of working with what you are delegating to, meaning they should have enough interest, knowledge, and experience for the job.
- They need to meet other requirements of the role that you defined from the previous step above.
- They need to have the personalities that will fit with your company’s culture.
All in all, the right person is not the best one but the most suitable one for the job and for the company. If you find a very brilliant candidate but they might be too good for the role who expects a higher range of salary than your budget or who might not go along with other teammates, that is not the right candidate that you should hire because you and they will probably not be able to work together for long.
The person you look to delegate could also be someone who’s already in your company. Rearranging tasks and roles within your current human resources could be a great way to reduce costs and to make your staff happier with the better fitted role for them. But, if you cannot find anyone appropriate in your company, just recruit a new employee outside.
4. How to delegate?
The way you delegate tasks is also very important. You need to have clear communication with the one you are delegating to.
Firstly, you need to ensure that the delegated person is clear of the tasks they are responsible for, of what they need to do and how it takes part in the whole process and structure of the business.
Next, clarify how you want the tasks to be done and what outcome you want to see at last. The process and results are what need to be clearly communicated between the delegator and the task’s taker and made sure there’s no room for misunderstanding.
Lastly, another thing to be put into communication is the deadline. The person who tackles the task should know when it needs to be finished by, so they can estimate and allocate the time needed to get it done with the best results. This is to prevent rushness and clumsy completion due to shortage of time and also to maximize the available time for each worker.
In addition, one more note to take into consideration is that the delegated one should be provided enough resources and training in order to deliver the best outcome. They could need some tools and devices, or instructions and training courses but they are afraid of asking. Though they should possess qualified abilities to tackle those tasks, the job can vary between different companies and they might not be acquainted with your company’s environment, process, and expectations yet. So, as the delegator, if you want them to give their best performance, ask them whether they need any additional resources and training for the job to make sure you guys are on the same page.
In conclusion…
There you go! We hope these insights will help you delegate tasks and hire new employees more effectively. People are such a crucial element of any company. So, if yours has the right people doing the right tasks for them, it will for sure scale.
You may want to watch our interview with James P. Friel on his tips for effective delegation here