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Sharing the Pain...Spreading the Responsibility
January 23, 2007
There are many reasons you might be unwilling to delegate authority. Do any of these excuses sound familiar to you?
- I can do it better myself.
- No one else will do it right.
- It’s faster to just do it myself.
These may sound like good reasons on paper, but are probably inaccurate. You know that in order to grow your business, you need to grow your team. Yet, as small-business owners, there's something in us that fights against asking for help.
Each circumstance and project is unique, but there are four simple yet powerful steps that you can take to delegate more effectively:
Requesting VS Assigning. Know the difference between making a request and issuing a command. A request allows a staff member to say, “No, thank you,” whereas assigning a task or duty is not optional.
Be Clear. Are you making your request or command clear?
- Specify the task you want done.
- Explain the reason it needs to be done.
- Make clear when you want it done.
- Describe the resources you are making available for the completion of the task: including technology, help from the manager, POS reports, etc.
- Describe what you expect the final product to look like.
Check In. You staff and sales associates are only human. They will make mistakes. They might accidentally order the wrong size head or even something as simple as a yellow gold clasp instead of a white gold one. Instead of leaving them alone once you’ve assigned some work to them, establish specific times you’ll check in with them to see how they’re doing. Set up a time when they can ask you questions about the specific task.
Set Consequences. Accountability is not a bad word-there have to be consequences if the results you need are not being met. Because if the sales quotas, goals or results you need aren’t being achieved, it’s you and your store that will suffer
Delegating effectively helps you make the most of your resources, allows for greater overall productivity, and in the end saves you stress.
Posted by Shanu Singh Guliani on January 23, 2007 | Comments (0)
