5 ways to delegate so that it is off your plate forever

Delegation can be difficult. I get it. Almost all of the business owners I work with are challenged by delegation to some degree.And yet…they all do it. Because they know that without it their business will not be able to grow beyond a certain size. Now THAT is a good reason. So let’s learn how to do it well….

1. Select the right tasks to delegate

So your Virtual assistant (or new staff member) is starting. And you have been dreaming of the hundreds of things that they can support you with. But where do you start?

The best place to start is a high VOLUME, low RISK activity. Something that you do all the time that if there was an error it wouldn’t be the end of the world.

For example:

Putting .srt files on a video so that people can watch it with captions
Sending out birthday messages to connections on facebook and LinkedIn
Putting your profound quotes into a format that looks great on Canva
That way, you can both find your feet and get into your communication and delegation groove.

Over time you will branch out to other activities. And if it is done right, you will find yourself wondering how on earth you ever managed without their support.

2. Unpack your brain effectively

It can be really difficult to unpack each component of a task. For example the words “send out a newsletter” has SO many steps and decision points.

It might seem simple in your head, but it is not to others.

The best way to manage this sort of situation is to record yourself doing the task.

In this case, get your Virtual assistant on a video call, enable them to record their screen and then do the task and talk out loud.

Share how to do each step, what things you consider when making a decision and also include some of the why.

Encourage your Virtual Assistant to ask questions.

Your Virtual Assistant can then use this recording to know how to do it themselves next time.

If you do it right, it should be the last time that you need to actually do the process.

3. Check for understanding

Silence or a ‘yes’ from your Virtual Assistant does NOT necessarily mean that they have understood what you have said.

So what I encourage is to ask the Virtual Assistant what they understood from what you just shared.

This will enable you to check for understanding.

The number of times I have been with a business owner and a Virtual Assistant where the business owner is talking gibberish…well let’s just say it is common.

I like to help the business owners to unpick their instructions.

On the other hand I also enjoy equipping Virtual Assistants to tell the business owners that they are speaking gibberish (nicely of course).

Either way, stopping and checking for understanding can pick up if there has been an effective transfer of information.

4. Implement a check step

No matter how awesome you explain yourself and how amazing your Virtual Assistant is, there will be some instances where the output will vary from what you want.

So there are two options:

Accept variation:

You could enable your virtual assistant to post a meme directly to social media without showing you.

In this instance you may love some of the meme’s and some you may not.

But, by not checking and by providing any feedback after the fact you are accepting variation.

For any high risk tasks where you could not accept variation you may implement a check step instead.

Implement check step:

Following on from the example of creating meme’s for social media. A check would mean that the business owner would review and approve (either individually or in a batch) all meme’s before they are posted.

I find that business owners and virtual assistants often initially have more checks and then over time as the relationship grows they reduce.

For more critical activities you may want to keep a check process in place forever, eg checking a proposal before it goes out to a client.

There is not a one size fits approach and it is a fluid process. I love to see how it adapts as the relationships mature.

And in the future you will have your more established Virtual Assistants doing the checks for your newer team members, taking you out of the process all together.

5. Exercise your delegation muscle

Exercising and strengthening your delegation muscle is a challenge worth facing.

What is the alternative? Not growing? ,

Now THAT is too hard to handle.

So with that in mind, I consider each delegation challenge as an opportunity to grow my delegation muscles.

I am not perfect. But I am buff. And that is how I need to be if I want to grow my business to support more people.

I don’t care if you are unsure and scared.

Approach it with a growth mindset and be on a mission to make it happen. THAT is what will lead to success.

Delegation is a special skill. If you need support then you would not be alone. In fact you would be in the majority of business owners.

If you do decide to get a Virtual Assistant with us we have a whole team dedicated to helping you on your delegation journey.

Either way, I think you are awesome for going on this journey. Your business (and you) deserve it.

Happy delegating 🙂

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