Busy professionals have to make the most of the 24 hours in every day.
Time is literally money in the business world, and whatever any professional can do to maximize earnings versus time, is well-invested effort.
One good way to accomplish better earnings, with less time invested, is by delegating.
A recent study conducted by Thomas Hubbard (Professor at Kellogg School of Management) and published in the Harvard Business Review, revealed that when individuals in supervisory positions delegated effectively, they earned 20% more (up to 50% more for top performers), than those who did not delegate.
Here are some tips, from Professor Hubbard, to take into account when you’re thinking about delegating:
Evaluate Time Constraints To See If You Need To Delegate More
Do you feel that you are constantly in a time crunch?
Could your overall outlook on work be described by the word “swamped”?
If so, then you should examine your day-to-day tasks and decide which items on your daily to-do list are the most routine. Those routine items are the tasks you want to delegate.
Don’t Try To Find Your Clone
Choosing who to delegate to, does not mean finding employees with a skill set and knowledge/understanding of the business that is similar to your own.
Keep it simple.
If a particular employee is capable enough to share even a small amount of your workload, delegate to them so you can free up your time to focus on more important matters, that only you are qualified to handle.
Invest in Processes and Resources to Streamline Delegation
When you delegate, your primary focus should be on making the most of your time and treating it like your most valuable commodity.
This means you need clear, efficient methods of handing off tasks to personnel without spending extensive time in meetings or writing e-mails reiterating instructions and expectations. It is also important to establish processes for accountability of delegated tasks that will not eat into your time.
Additionally, make sure that you are taking full advantage of tech, software, and applications that will allow you to further streamline your delegation and accountability processes through collaboration. Ultimately, your goal is to make delegation as seamless as you can without creating further work for yourself, and if there is a resource available to make this happen it is money well spent.