Tips for Newbies: The Art of Delegating in Your Business

What role does delegating play into your business growth? Why should you consider delegating, how do you choose what to delegate, and who to assign a specific task? Co-hosts Hannah Robinson and Melissa Honan discuss the art of delegating for your bookkeeping business.

[0:28] The topic of today’s episode, delegating in your business, is something Hannah believes many business owners could benefit from learning more about. [1:19] Hannah asks Melissa at what stage of her journey she said to herself ‘Alright, it’s time to delegate’. Melissa started delegating right from the very beginning. She explains why people don’t delegate and the message you’re sending others if you aren’t delegating.

[6:01] ‘What are some good reasons people should delegate?’ Hannah asks Melissa. Melissa makes it clear: ‘If you get to the point where you are overwhelmed and can’t do everything yourself, you’ve gone too far. You should have delegated sooner.’ And this doesn’t only apply to your professional life, but to your personal life too – as a working mom, you can’t do it all by yourself. [10:29] For Hannah, learning how to delegate isn’t just something that can help you grow your business, but it’s something that improves your overall quality of

[12:49] What should people do to make their life easier? According to Melissa, an audit of your personal life, since it’s so intertwined with your business life. [13:58] Do we work better when we’re under supervision? Melissa shares a statistic that illustrates the fact that people working from home are 47% more productive. They work and perform better when they’re given trust. Both Melissa and Hannah agree, and share their experiences.

[20:24] Which areas should you focus on delegating? It comes down to a few “categories”: tiny, tedious, time-consuming, terrible, and time-sensitive.

[24:31] What are the traits of a great leader, according to Hannah? It definitely is about understanding the importance of delegating – and actually delegating – but also about being able to take constructive criticism.

[27:03] How do you decide who to delegate a task to? It starts with doing a task audit, as career and business strategist Jenny Blake recommends. Melissa starts by looking at the order in which to delegate – she begins with prioritizing time-sensitive tasks, but also looks at tasks that, if delegated, would free up the most time. Then, she asks herself, ‘Is the right person to deal with this task already on my team?’

[29:37] For Melissa, asking herself ‘How do I know whether a team member is the right person to assign a task to?’ has been the hardest question. When asking herself this question years ago, she realized that her team wasn’t made of the right people.

[32:33] Has outsourcing been helpful for Melissa’s business? Yes it has, particularly in regards to outsourcing social media, since it didn’t come naturally to any of Melissa’s team members.

[33:26] What are some important questions to ask yourself if you’re considering outsourcing? For Melissa, the list includes questions such as:

• ‘Is this a task for one person or a team?’
• ‘Am I hiring for one task or a full role?’
• ‘Are my processes for this task documented?’
• ‘Do I have the time to train the new employee on the items I’d like to delegate?’
• ‘Do I even have an idea of what it is I’d like them to do, and is it documented?’

[35:47] Hannah asks Melissa how she has gone about keeping her task delegation process going effectively. According to Melissa, achieving buy-in is key. And clarifying what success means will help with that.

[42:24] Melissa touches upon a struggle she has when it comes to her role as leader.

Mentioned in this episode:

Jenny Blake’s 3rd book Free Time: Lose the Busywor