Anup Surendran’s blog

Overwhelmed? Many small and medium business owners spend too much time working “in” their business, and not enough time working “on” their business. One of the most common causes for this behaviour is the inability to delegate tasks and responsibilities to others.

1. Reviewing and Prioritizing Tasks

The first step in outsourcing tasks to others is to review each and every task required to operate and grow your business. As you create this extensive list, consider what types of skill sets are required to complete them. Can the tasks be completed by someone with training, or do they require your particular expertise and experience? Now, note which tasks are revenue generating and which are merely administrative. Which tasks drive the business’s bottom line? Spending time focusing on the organization and categorization of tasks will enable you to prioritize their importance as well as which can be delegated.

2. Reviewing your Schedule- Tracking your Time

Now that you have a comprehensive list of tasks required to operate your business, spend time tracking your time over the course of a week. Keep a journal and note what tasks you complete on an hourly basis. Where are you spending time? As you work through this process, business owners often discover that they are spending too much of their time on non-revenue generating activities. Over time, this behaviour can implode your business.

3. Delegate

Now that you have identified the administrative tasks which can be delegated, filing, data entry, customer order follow up and even answering the phones, you can begin to delegate. Start small; choose one task to delegate to someone internally or virtually. Over time and as you feel more comfortable, you can continue to delegate non-revenue generating activities off of your schedule.

Working through this process is both a learning experience and productive for your business.

Let me know how you are delegating in your business..