Delegation May Equal Outsourcing
In large corporations, when a person is newly promoted to a supervisory or management position, one skill necessary for success is often lacking. The skill of delegating. In order to have the time to achieve the goals set for the new position, the new manager must learn to delegate tasks that are not specifically related to the management activities.
For example, Brian was recently promoted from Senior Supply Clerk to Supply Room Supervisor. One of the activities Brian enjoyed as a clerk was the weekly stock inventory. He saw no reason why he couldn’t continue to perform this task, especially since he did it quite well. Unfortunately, Brian was then strapped for time when it came to preparing the weekly time sheet reports, which were frequently late or inaccurate.
Okay, I admit this is a very simplistic and obvious situation. However, many business owners are guilty of similar behavior. We often, inadvertently, stifle our business’ growth by trying to do too much by ourselves. In Brian’s case, he either learns the error of his ways or he is fired. The business owner may have to close up shop
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In their book, Let Go to Grow: Why Some Businesses Thrive and Others Fail to Reach Their Potential, Doug and Polly White explain why it is necessary for the business owner to delegate tasks so that he/she is able to expand his/her own skill set to allow the business to prosper. In case studies of businesses that successfully transitioned from a one-man-shop to small business status but no further, it is often the owner who prevented the continued growth.
NOTE: Delegation may equal Outsourcing – With today’s technological advances, it is not always necessary to hire someone as an employee in order to be able to delegate many tasks. Outsourcing, e.g. contracting with a specialist(s), allows access to the necessary skill set(s) without the overhead costs associated with an employee.
The question then becomes: How do you determine what to delegate/outsource? Some tasks are easy to identify. They are outside of your area of expertise, or you simply hate to do them. Others are more difficult to pinpoint. As in Brian’s case above, sometimes you actually like handling the task.
The two most common objections I hear are:
- It will take too much time to explain what I want done and how it should be done; and,
- I can’t afford to pay someone else to do it.
My responses are:
- If you take the time now to start the process of outsourcing the task, how much time will you have to spend on the task going forward?
- Can you afford not to delegate?
Any potential procedural change needs to be evaluated in terms of costs vs benefits—both short- and long-term. Keep in mind that dollars-and-cents is not the only measurement to consider. Look at the value of having more focus and energy for activities that increase your client base. Continuing to be the one man or one woman band is not conducive to effective business growth.
To assist business owners, we have developed an Outsourcing Needs Assessment** designed to walk you through the process of determining which tasks to outsource. Completing the assessment is beneficial for both new and experienced business owners. In fact, after completing the assessment one client, who has been with S.E.D. Services for 8 years, realized that there were other tasks she could hand off to her VA.
For a free copy of the Outsourcing Needs Assessment contact S.E.D. Services at info@sedservices.com.
**Special thanks to the following people for their invaluable input during the development of this assessment: Barbara Mitchell, Stephanie Katz, Alice Waagen, Sharon Armstrong, Pam Krulitz, and Renée Canali.