Unlike getting your driving license from DMV, delegation is not a course you need to train and then get licensed for. Delegation comes naturally to us thanks to our teachers, managers at work and wife! We are good with taking instructions, knowing what needs to be done and the easiest way to get those tasks done.
The only problem is that we think we are better than everyone else and no one other than you can do those tasks as efficiently and quickly. If you delegate half of the tasks that are due this week, and even if they are done in double the amount of time you might take, it still creates a huge leverage in terms of time and money that you saved and can be used to do something more productive and worth your time.
Quick Guide to Delegation in 4 steps to your Virtual Personal Assistant:
- Write everything down you have to do this week: Yes, lets make a full to-do list. This list should include everything like doing laundry, cleaning, research you need to do for your next project, filling reports, making reservations, finding the best deals on snow blowers (we are not seeing the end of snow storms this year any time soon and you are done shoveling!), all personal and professional tasks need to go on that list and the time you might devote to do each one of them. This list will be an eye opener as you will see how many hours a day are truly being utilized to do something fun or productive.
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- Organize these tasks into 3: Tasks that only you can do (go in the Me pile), Tasks that are repetitive and mundane (go in the Delegate pile), Tasks that can be done more efficiently if someone else did the leg work (go in the delegate pile): When delegating the best practice is to start with repetitive and mundane tasks. Your assistant knows the clear objective and after doing them for a day or two, your assistant completely understands the requirement and these tasks can be delegated and get done like a well oiled machine. After you have established a clear bond with your assistant you can start asking him to work on tasks that are higher in value and an extra pair of hands at work will be of advantage. All research, reports, database etc come into this category. Once your assistant becomes the master of your work schedule you can send tasks and forget about them.
- Empower your personal assistant with all the tools: Sharing and communicating ideas, files and meetings has never been easier. Let your assistant know the tools you like to use and they can sign up if they don’t already have accounts on them and start sharing instantly. Some of the common file sharing tools are: Google drive, Dropbox, box it. you can share your calendar if your assistant is going to be managing it for you. if there is any specific database or CRM that you use, like Salesforce, Zoho etc, you can create account and set privileges for your assistant. Preparation of login information and notifying your assistant in advance the names or accounts on all the tools ensures less effort on your part when you assistant is working on the task and will need the login information anyways.
- Send clear instructions and set deadlines: This holds true for both parties in play. Be as descriptive as possible on what the objective and expectation of the task is. You do not have to explain to your assistant how to do the task. However, clear instructions on what the report or work at hand should accomplish must be specified. If you have one sample report that you worked on before send it to your assistant it will be of much help. Accountability is very important. Your assistant should know how much time needs to be spent on any particular task. Encourage your assistant to ask you questions and make yourself available to answer those. in the long term your results will be great!
Delegation when done effectively can save you from the stress that your to-do list was creating. You will stop working on things that you can easily send off and save you MORE time and money to do the things you love doing. If you do not have a virtual assistant yet and want to know more, call us how we can help you. This is your ticket to freedom!
