Overcome the Struggle: Delegate Effectively & Grow Your Business

10/22/2015

Have you ever delegated a task to an employee, and then felt the need to step in and take over to ensure it was done correctly? Have you ever given a task to an employee, but the employee seems unsure and thus does not accomplish the task? Do you ever have the idea that you told someone to tackle a job, but you cannot remember whom you told? Are you so busy putting out fires that you are not focusing on the larger goals of your business?

Think about your day as an hourglass.  There is only so much sand that can pass through your hourglass in one day. You owe it to yourself and your company to only place the most important tasks in the top of your hourglass each day. If your goal is to grow and gain efficiencies you need to focus solely on the tasks that only you as the leader of the company can do and delegate the rest.

For many, the action of delegating does not come easy.  How do I start delegating?

1. Brainstorm and create a list of all activities you want to remove from your “hourglass.”

2. Delegate these identified activities to the right person.

3. Specify the results. Clearly communicate what you want the outcome to be or look like.

Use RACI charting as a tool to communicate roles and responsibilities for your entire employee team.

4. Set the timeframe of completion.

5. Determine what decisions the employee will be making on their own.

6. Be available for questions. After you have gone through all the steps above, you won’t want the employee to feel like they are in a sink or swim mode. Make sure to let them know you are available for questions, but also resist the urge (strong though it may be) to jump in and micromanage.

Interested in learning more on how to delegate and communicate more effectively with your farm operation employees? Contact Tim Schaefer.