The inevitable outcome of growth is the need to delegate some of the tasks you might have been doing yourself and the best tasks to delegate are repetitive processes. But in order to delegate effectively you must be able to communicate clearly. Write out all of the steps of your process and take some time to refine them. This will make delegation a lot easier and more effective.
Doug Hudiburg, Editor Daily Marketing Ace
4 Comments
Boy, Doug, I know what you mean! And even if growth is the issue, you need to have clear, written instructions for everything you do more than a couple of times. What if your assistant quits, or you get sick and someone has to step in? Or, if your mind is as full of moth-holes as mine is, what if you forget exactly how to do something you did three months ago? Instead or reinventing the wheel, it really helps if you have it all written down.
Charlotte (my VA) keeps a “policies and proceedures” manual up to date for my micro-business. We include things such as passwords, phone numbers, account information, and detailed instructions on how to, say, post a blog, update a program, or reinstall my e-mail profiles Outlook (again.). It keeps me from calling her all the time, which saves me time and money.
Oops! I meant to say “even if growth is NOT the issue” in my comment. Sorry for any confusion!
Wow Lynn. I’m impressed and inspired. I have some of what you mentioned in your “policies and procedures” manual, but it’s not comprehensive, nor it it all in one place.
Do you use a Word doc to store all the info?
You know, it’s funny. Many of us start our businesses to get away from the corporate world, so we tend to avoid things that *seem* corporate. But you can’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
There are reasons strong businesses have policies and procedures documented — so that they don’t spend cycle time re-learning tasks over and over. Plus, as you mentioned, if you have employee turnover, it’s important to have a roadmap for the new person to follow.
Yes, Doug, it is a Word document–and there’s another trick to the process.I had my VA’s–who actually did the work, write up what they did. They knew/know the process better than I did/do.
However, I’d strongly recommend that you test the written description of the procedures with someone who’s never done them. When you’ve done something a dozen times, you tend to skip steps. They become obvious, but only to you. When I tried to get my blog up and running following the “comprehensive” instructions someone else wrote, I ended up sending that poor person over 14 different questions. So TEST your written procedures before you hand them over to someone for the first time. And expect questions, but just not as many.