OP53 Work smarter not harder
OPERATIONS & MANAGEMENT
WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER
By Harry Welby-Cooke • January/February 2017 • Issue 53
Download PDF Version • 287 KB
We explore the roles of delegation, systematisation and upskilling in creating a business that can run on its own.
Everyone needs a holiday now and then, not least of all a hardworking entrepreneur like yourself, right? Are you planning a few lazy weeks at the coast this year? Did you take a holiday last year or even the year before that? If you answered with a triple ‘nope’, chances are you are one of the many, many business owners who are so inextricably tied to the day-to-day operations of their business that taking a holiday seems like an impossible pipe dream.
If this rings true for you and your business, the unfortunate truth is that you are your company’s biggest bottleneck. If every employee, client and process depends entirely upon you, then you are limiting your business’ future growth, scalability and, ultimately, its value.
The good news is that with a little guidance and determination it is possible to redesign your business to run without you. In our experience, delegation, systematisation and upskilling are three elements that play an impactful role in building a self-sustaining business.
DELEGATION
Changing this is an imperative step in freeing yourself as an entrepreneur. If you are still performing a good portion of the tasks you had meant to hand over to your organisation’s other leaders, it is time for drastic action.
While you may assume that your employees would resist being given more responsibility, the truth is that they want to be trusted to take full responsibility for the roles they were hired for. It is, however, important to ensure you are delegating correctly and not setting your staff up for failure.
In many ways, delegating business roles is like parenting. Your early team members are like your children, needing regular attention and instructions. They do, eventually, grow into responsible, capable and trustworthy adults on the job. Your goal should be to become something of a retiree-grandparent, trusting in your experienced staff and allowing them to make their own decisions and to deal with the repercussions when they get it wrong.
“No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.”
—Andrew Carnegie
Tips for effective delegating:
- Don’t expect perfection, but don’t compromise on quality either
If you already have a vision of the perfect execution of a project, it’s all the more likely that your team will fail to fulfil it. Your job is not to dictate every detail of the project, but to establish a set of quality standards and a reasonable time frame in which to achieve them. Then you have to trust their judgement and abilities and allow your employees to decide how best to go about it. - Focus on teachingBefore you can confidently step away from the day-to-day operations, you will have to get more involved with the people who will be taking over. Handing over responsibilities involves a learning curve, so prepare and equip your employees for the tasks and remember that a few mistakes will be inevitable.
- Provide detailed and complete instructions
When developing a job brief, go about it as though you won’t be around; cover every relevant detail and circumstance and establish a clear vision of a good result. Your team needs to know exactly what they are taking on and who they can turn to for guidance should anything go wrong.
SYSTEMS
Establishing a culture of systematisation will allow you to gradually release control to your employees and still get the desired results. Without formalised systems that streamline (or even fully automate) key business processes, there will never be enough time to focus on the strategic tasks, much less take a few weeks off.
Creating business systems can take a thousand different guises.
- Systematise your staff onboarding process by creating an induction booklet that covers new hires’ roles and responsibilities, KPIs, rules and regulations.
- Employ a third-party digital service to systematise HR, leave and payroll.
- Prescheduling and systematising your online marketing will cut down on labour and ensure that your digital advertising is up and running 24/7.
With a little creative guidance almost any aspect of business operations can be systematised to some degree. Implementing systems will go a long way towards freeing up time to focus on driving your business goals, attending to matters outside of business and perhaps taking a holiday, secure in the knowledge that your business is running predictably without you.
“If you can’t describe what you are doing as a process, you don’t know what you’re doing.”
—W. Edwards Deming
Top tips for creating standard operating procedures that work:
- Make sure your staff buys inEngaging your staff will secure their buy-in and ensure that the systems are addressing the problems they are meant to.
- Keep it simple
Systems should be simple to follow and easy to understand — even for new hires. Use imagery, flowcharts and diagrams and avoid complex language or jargon and lengthy convoluted processes. - Emphasise best practices
Systems should be based on industry best practice as well as the eventual desired goal. If you let people know exactly what is expected of them and arm them with the right resources and information, it is far more likely that they will perform to the best of their abilities.
UPSKILLING
Handing over responsibility to your employees can only happen if they stick around long enough to practice what they’ve been taught. Skills transference is vital for reducing staff turnover, but also for equipping employees with the skills and experience necessary to take on new tasks.
Employees want to know that their efforts are not in vain. Even the most skilled employees will stick around if they believe there is something worth learning, or find themselves in a workplace worth contributing to.
Upskilling employees is a time- and labour-intensive process, but well worth the effort. Done correctly, upskilling can, in a relatively short space of time, relieve you of a huge amount of admin, management, training and troubleshooting work. It also helps to prepare your business for future growth by gradually identifying and training suitable candidates for management positions.
So what are you waiting for? Making these changes will not be easy, and it won’t be quick, but once they are implemented you’ll be amazed at just how much quicker and easier your tasks as an entrepreneur become. Our suggestion? Book yourself a plane ticket for a dream holiday (somewhere without the Internet is ideal) a few months from now. Then start formulating your plan, so your company will survive while you’re gone. Good luck, and bon voyage!
“The growth and development of people is the highest calling of leadership.”
—Harvey S. Firestone
Tips for effective & affordable employee coaching:
- One-on-one mentoringNew hires and relatively junior employees can learn much from developing a close working relationship with their more experienced colleagues. Setting aside time to guide them with decision-making and offering feedback, advice and supportive encouragement will bring employees up to speed much faster than unsupervised learning on the job.
- Special assignmentsWhen employees feel they are no longer being challenged, job satisfaction is the first thing to suffer, followed soon afterwards by an increase in staff turnover. Appointing them to a special task that tests their skills can drive motivation, while you will discover the limits of their abilities and maybe even some hidden talents you weren’t aware of.
- Foster a culture of learningNowadays, no matter the industry you are in, advancements in technology are making the acquisition of new skills a necessity. Making learning an important part of your workplace culture will result in a win-win situation — you get skilled, experienced and capable employees and they enjoy a greater sense of achievement while gaining new skills to aid their careers.