Working Smarter, Not Harder
Mastering the Art of Delegation: The Key to Entrepreneurial Success
As an entrepreneur, one skill stands above the rest when it comes to ensuring long-term success: the ability to effectively delegate tasks. For those with a Type A, “Do It Yourself” personality, this can be a particularly challenging hurdle to overcome. Yet, without mastering delegation, you may find yourself limited in your ability to grow both personally and professionally.
The Cognitive Limits of Multitasking
Let’s begin with some hard facts. Our brains are inherently limited in their capacity to process multiple streams of information simultaneously. According to a study published in the journal Science, when it comes to tasks that require decision-making and reasoning, the brain struggles to perform well if asked to handle more than two at a time. When you engage in two tasks simultaneously, both hemispheres of your brain work independently to manage them. However, when a third task is introduced, error rates increase, and overall performance deteriorates.
Consider a common scenario: driving while talking on a cell phone. Both activities demand complex decision-making and reasoning—especially if the conversation is work-related. If you’ve ever been stuck behind someone driving slowly while they’re on their phone, you’ve witnessed this cognitive overload firsthand. Even if they manage to drive at a normal speed, it’s likely they’ll reach their destination with little recollection of the journey—a clear sign that their brain was struggling to manage both tasks.
The Inevitable Limits of Time and Energy
As much as we’d like to believe otherwise, there are only so many hours in the day, and only so much a single pair of hands can accomplish. Without mastering the art of delegation, you’ll inevitably face limited business growth, mounting frustration, burnout, stress, and declining job performance.
This isn’t just a problem for large companies; even solopreneurs will sooner or later find themselves in need of assistance. The sheer volume of tasks, appointments, and activities that come with running a business makes it impossible to handle everything on your own. But hiring help is only the first step—you also need to learn how to “let go” and allow those you’ve hired to do their jobs effectively.
The Different Levels of Delegation
Effective delegation isn’t just about offloading tasks; it’s about understanding the different levels of delegation, training your staff to achieve satisfactory outcomes, and trusting that others can perform as well as you can. Great leaders don’t just delegate—they mentor and coach their team, empowering them to take on more responsibility and grow their own skills.
- Instruction vs. Delegation: If you tell someone, “Do exactly what I say,” you’re not delegating; you’re instructing. There’s no room for independent decision-making here.
- Delegation with Support: Saying, “Do this, let me know if you need help, and we’ll decide how to proceed together,” allows for some decision-making freedom. This approach is useful for developing your team’s skills and building trustworthy relationships.
- Delegation with Monitoring: If you say, “Do this, decide and take action, and let me know what happened,” you’re beginning to free up your own time while encouraging others to take on more responsibility. Monitoring their decision-making allows you to provide further coaching as needed.
- Full Delegation: The ultimate level of delegation is when you can say, “Do this, decide and take action, and there’s no need to report back on this task.” This demonstrates a high level of confidence in your team’s abilities, and significantly reduces your personal workload.Delegating SMARTER
You’ve likely heard the phrase, “Work Smarter, Not Harder.” In the context of delegation, ‘SMARTER’ can serve as a useful acronym to guide your approach:
S – Specific: Be clear and specific about the task you’re delegating.
M – Measurable: Define what a successful outcome looks like.
A – Agreed: Ensure mutual agreement on both the task and the expected outcome.
R – Realistic: Make sure the task is achievable and within the capabilities of the person you’re delegating to.
T – Time-bound: Set a clear deadline for the task’s completion.
E – Ethical: Ensure that the task aligns with ethical and moral standards.
R – Recorded: Document the process and outcomes, especially for business-related tasks.
In Conclusion: Embracing Delegation for Greater Success
As entrepreneurs, we face countless decisions and tasks each day. We all strive to be productive, efficient, and successful, regardless of our role or level of responsibility. The only way to truly achieve these goals is to let go of the “Do It Yourself” mentality and embrace the skill of effective delegation. Start delegating today—and remember, there’s no need to report back on this task.
