Delegate your way to perfection

I have always been a perfectionist. Growing up I loved baking but when I baked no one was allowed to step into the kitchen. Or chaos would erupt.

Throughout school and university, in any group project, I had to be in control. To make sure everything was done according to my standards. I rewrote everyone else’s texts to perfection. Because if it wasn’t done my way, I knew it would not be the best.

This practice followed me all the way to my first job as a project manager. But it is not a very efficient, nor effective, way to work. It requires time and effort to rework someone else’s job. And in a business setting that is just wasted resources.

As a project manager I knew I had to start delegating. And it was the best thing I have done.  

It was a revelation.  Suddenly, I didn’t need to perform all those tedious tasks. I could have someone else do them. And instead I could focus on imperative tasks that only I could do.

Delegating is vital for your business success. It means you don’t have to do boring repetitive tasks that ends up making you unmotivated. You delegate to be able to focus on strategy and tactics. So you can keep developing your business.

They key to delegation is giving proper instructions. If the work someone else does for you is bad, it’s because you gave bad instructions. Not because they did a poor job. Spend time outlining the work to be done in detail. And be available to coach and guide. Set a clear frame for the work to be done, but leave room for the person to think on their own feet. It usually makes them more motivated and feeling like they have more responsibility. And they end up doing a better job.

Once you start delegating you will not look back. Without those tedious tasks you will become more efficient when you work. And more effective. Because you can spend time on what matters: perfecting your business.