It's Not How, It's Who: Mastering the Art of Delegation

"There never seems to be enough hours in the day."

"Work-life balance? What's that?"

"How will I ever get all of this done?"

Can you relate? As a business owner, if you find yourself saying things like this, you're not alone. It's a common issue for businesses that are just taking off but haven't yet figured out how to scale. It can feel like trying to juggle seven balls when you can barely handle two or three: a few are bound to drop.

To begin with, if there's a lot to do in your business, something's obviously going right. But the reason you're overwhelmed is that you're asking the wrong question.

You shouldn't be asking, "HOW will I get this done?" but rather, "WHO should get this done?"

In other words, it's time to learn the art of delegation.

The concept of shifting our thinking from HOW to WHO is championed by Dan Sullivan in his aptly titled book, Who Not How: The Formula to Achieve Bigger Goals Through Accelerating Teamwork. It’s a brilliant book that I highly recommend. The concept here is that delegation is not just about offloading tasks; it's a strategic move that can catapult your business to new heights.

Many business owners shy away from delegation, especially at first. They fear the loss of control or somehow convince themselves that no one else can do the job right. Other owners, especially in the AEC space, have the mentality that the best way to lead their team is to "be in the trenches," with them, working alongside their team in the business. Whatever your reason though, you will not scale the way you want or need to unless you are willing to re-think the power of delegation.

Identifying Tasks to Delegate

So, how do you decide which tasks to delegate? It's like separating wheat from chaff. You need to keep the wheat—what you love to do and are great at—and delegate the chaff—tasks that you don’t like and/or are not good at. This way, you can focus on what you do best and let your team members do what they do best.

The Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) offers a great framework to help with this process called the “Delegate and Elevate Tool”. Start by creating a list of all the different tasks you do in the business, then categorize those tasks into four buckets:

• BUCKET 1: Things you love doing and excel at (Love/Great);

• BUCKET 2: Things you like to do and are good at (Like/Good);

• BUCKET 3: Things you do well but don't particularly enjoy (Don’t Like/Good); and

• BUCKET 4: Things you don't do well and don't enjoy (Don’t Like/Not Good).

Then, start with Bucket 4 (Don’t Like/Not Good) and gradually delegate your way up the list.

Choosing the Right People for the Right Tasks

Now that you know how you are going to delegate your tasks, you need to figure out who you are going to delegate them to. One of the reasons we focus so much of our early attention on structuring your team and running assessments is because knowing each team member's strengths and passions helps you not only recognize which seat to put them in, but also who is the best person to handle each delegated task. Once you have your structure in place, you now have a framework for delegating each of your tasks, looking to give each team member the tasks in their "Bucket 1" – things they love and are great at.

That's where the art of delegation really starts to elevate your business. And that's where you begin to see your life change.

Delegation is not an option but a requirement for scaling your business. It's not about losing control but gaining efficiency. Are you holding onto tasks that others could do? Are you delegating tasks to the right people? Remember, the art of delegation is not just about doing less; it's about achieving more.

Are you ready to elevate your business? If so, email me at mark@odysseyadvisors.com. We'll have a conversation about building a strategy (one that includes delegation) to free up more of your time in the day-to-day.