trench delegation

A piece of advice that’s both right and wrong; to run a successful business, you must learn how to delegate.

Good advice because; there are only twenty-four hours in a day, and together we can achieve much more than alone.

Bad advice because; ceo’s can’t delegate getting in the trenches (in the beginning). Outsource too early, and you’ll have no idea how a certain process works. Delegate accounting entirely, and you won’t know how money actually flows in- and outside your company.

Start delegating after these two conditions are met, in this particular order. First, establish a firm understanding of the task at hand. Second, you’re able to attach KPI’s to the job(s) to be done.

don’t bark

If you buy a dog, let it bark. It’s not up to you to bark anymore; you just bought a dog.

As a founder, delegating work is very difficult. Time and time again, founders — early on in the business’ lifecycle — are troubled with letting other people assist them. The company is their soul child, after all. What if they mess up? They don’t understand the business through and through, and they haven’t got the faintest idea of how important this task really is! A small outtake of thoughts racing through founders’ heads.

If the people helping you do make mistakes, there is room for improvement. Learning opportunities reveal themselves for them to understand the process better and for you to explain the process better and reduce error margin while you’re at it. If they mess up (the same task) consistently, you may be stuck with a bad hire, but that’s a different story altogether.

Trust the people and resources you buy or hire to do their job. Let it go, focus on the big picture.