Strategic productivity is “doing what you do best and delegate the rest.” Delegating means entrusting another with a task. The best reason to delegate is you will have valuable time to do other important tasks. Here are some of the challenges people face when they go about delegating.
Challenge: Control freaks who must have everything done their way
Change: There are many ways to accomplish a task. Think of ways to give incidental tasks to someone else at first and grow that into effective, regular help. Is the “good” work you do every day getting in the way of your “great” work? Let someone else do the good and get on with your great work!
Challenge: Not wanting people to see their faults.
Change: Expose yourself! Accept the fact that you are not perfect and don’t need to be. Open, honest requests often result in long-lasting powerful collaboration
Challenge: Not enough time to get organized in order to delegate
Change: Take a few minutes to plan out the project. The minute you decide where to start— add delegation as a first step rather than a lifeline. There are always more tasks than time. Delegating takes tasks off your plate so you will have more time to do what you do best and to do what is most important. Take a baby step, like 30 minutes once a week, and with time you will learn this new skill and make it a habit.
Challenge: It will cost too much or I don’t have the money for an assistant
Change: Consider the cost of staying late, the cost of doing something at which your are not good and the struggle of a task. Work your assistant can do will support your higher goals will always save you money.
Challenge: They don’t have the right partnership in place so they just do it themselves
Change: Delegation does not equal marriage! This can be a one-time thing to explore how to accelerate progress. If it works, continue! If not, you move on with deeper learning. Try working with different people on different tasks on a trial basis.
Challenge: Too busy to explain, not sure where to ask for help or have trouble communicating with others
Change: Consider the time that indecision and stuck-ness takes! Having another perspective from an assistant can move you forward on a task. Streamline explanations with your assistant. Open the door for lots of questions through out the process, not just at the beginning. Design some processes, check lists and tools to make it easier. Practicing these skills are good for you in other areas as well.
Once you successfully learn to delegate, you will not want to do the task again. You will be empowered by the teamwork and will be more successful at what you do, and, most importantly, your income will increase!
