The Solopreneur’s Guide to Delegation

September 21st, 2006 | by Erin Banister |

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Working as a solopreneur is difficult, and getting help is often difficult. Finding out how an assistant (virtual assisstant or otherwise) can help you is instrumental in keeping your business successful. Delegation is the handing of a task over to another person; in order to do this, you should understand the few key points below:

1. Clarify the assignment with clear, unambiguous instructions

When you delegate, you need to be very specific about what you expect, and how you expect it to be done. The more specific you are about what you want, the better the chances are that your assignment will be done the way you desire.

2. Ensure the person has the necessary skills

You wouldn’t hire a woodworker to fix your toilet leak, would you? The same goes for your assistant, with one caveat. IF (and, that’s a big if) you’re willing to train a person in a specific skill (such as music notation), then have at it. But, if you don’t want to invest the time and energy into teaching someone every nuance of your trade - then you need to make sure you find someone with at least a little knowledge of your profession.

3. Specify how much responsibility the person has over the assignment

If you need portions of a larger assignment done, such as research for a book - then make sure that your assistant is aware of what you expect from them. If they’re responsible for an amount of research to be completed weekly, make sure they know that. If they have to have the research done in parts, or completed before turning it in… let them know.

The whole point of delegation is to remove time-consuming tasks off your plate. Begin by giving away smaller tasks, and then move on to more complex tasks as your relationship gels. In all effectiveness, delegation is more about partnership than
subordinate/superiority. When given the right fertilizer, your assistant will care just as much, if not more, about the end goal as you do.

4. Allow the other person to participate in the assignment

Listen to suggestions, and consider them. If you’re delegating a task and someone has a better/faster/more efficient way of doing it - use the technique if its’ appropriate. The way technology is changing, with calculated innovations and changes you’ll give your business the room to be very profitable.

5. Monitor the progress in regular intervals to allow time for remedial action if necessary

I’m not telling you here to monitor every breath and movement, but keep yourself abreast of the situation. Ask how things are going and where they’re at in the assignment. This way, if you see the task veering into the unknown, you can quickly steer it back on track without hurting any feelings… and without wasting precious time doing it all over again.

6. Feedback, feedback, feedback

Feedback is a crucial step - once the task is complete, if a good job has been done, let them know! And if something went wrong along the way, you need to be able to talk about that too. Take the time to speak or email your assistant with any concerns you had - and allow them the opportunity to do the same. This will not only help your VA understand the expectations in the future, it will also provide a good opportunity to realize what you could have done better as well!

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Tags: delegation, how-to, outsourcing, Problogger Group Writing Project, small business, solopreneur

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