The Secret To Effective Delegation That No One Talks About

TRANSCRIPT AUTOMATICALLY GENERATED [00:00:00] Hey, Hey, so today I want to dive into a topic that I feel like I'm seeing every way. But I'm not sure if it's just because it's something I've been thinking about diving deeper into for the podcast. And it's like that. You know, the frequency illusion, like when you buy raid call or you see around you now is red because. I feel like I'm seeing a lot of people talking about this, but at a kind of very intro level. So I wanted to dive a little bit deeper into it today and give you a real grounding in it, because I want you to think. Bigger. When it comes to delegation. So, if you think back to ye olden days of like game of Thrones time, Delegation really meant. Sending somebody to represent you that person had to have all the authority and all the power. To negotiate and sign treaties and agree to things, make decisions on the spot in your state. You were sending them to speak for you. Because they couldn't drop you an email and see if you agreed. Their word became your word. And that's become a little bit more watered down in modern day organizations. Where we've gone from deputizing full authority. Two more assigning tasks and responsibilities to team members. But I really want you to keep that. Vision of like Catlin stock negotiating on behalf of her son. In your mind as we talk about delegation, because that is the ultimate goal of delegation. Now you may never get there, but if you hope to one day sell and exit your business, that business has to operate without you. And if you want to think about a second business or you want to really just focus on the big picture. That's the level of delegation that requires for somebody else to be running your business for you. So we're going to walk through debt levels of delegation that you can be seeing in your business and that you can be aiming for. I'm going to talk about the key element of delegation that we tend [00:02:00] to miss as the CEO in our business. And without it, we can't advance. At these levels of delegation. But before we get there, let's just take it right back to the very beginning. And I like to call this. Delegation level zero. This is the kind of delegation that everybody in the world does. Everybody. And that is automation. We have become so used to our lives being automated, that we don't really give it that much thought anymore. We have apps that can turn on your lights. When you're not at home, we have apps that can wake us. We can tell them to wake us gently with the sunrise. They can tell us. Uh, Whether or not we recovered enough to go to the gym. We have delegated that power to something else. Right. It just happens in this case. It's an app instead of a person. But because we're so comfortable with it, it's a really good place to start thinking about delegation. And I'm willing to bet most entrepreneurs who listen to this episode. They're very first apple software for their business was probably some kind of calendar tool. And you give that tool, the authority to make decisions for you. Sure. You've told it like, Hey, I'm happy to work. Monday to Friday. These are my working hours and Hey, here's the link to my Google calendar. So you can see when I'm not available. But other than that, It's deciding on your behalf, whether or not you can meet with someone it's sitting up where that meeting is going to take place. Okay. Gone. Onto that's usually just zoom. But it is acting on your behalf. You may never have thought of this as delegation before, but you have given technology the authority to act for you within a set of guidelines. So I know people get really up in, they heads about delegation. And so I want to bring it back to this thing that you do every single day, which is delegate some of your authority to an app or a piece of software. So what's the next level up from automation. So that kind [00:04:00] of level one for delegation is really what we call task delegation. So you assign a very specific task to be done in a specific way in a specific timeframe. And does this sound most people. , get their foot in the door, which was delegation. Usually it's a process that, you know, really well. And the idea is that you create really clear expectations. You provide the guidelines and you give the person any resources they need. This usually comes in the form of standard operating procedures or soapies. Training supervision. It all has to work together. and the general process for this kind of delegation goes. Identify the task. Fond the person who can do the task or hire the person. Give them really detailed, clear instructions on how you want it done. And what it looks like when it's done. You may offer them some training on it, and then you keep a really close eye on their progress. When they go off course, you give them feedback. You give them guidance. And the success of the delegation is did the task get done correctly? Now that's not to say that you necessarily have crystal clear SRPs for everything that you delegate. But if you're thinking, Hey, I'm going to film a looms that somebody can see how I do this process. You're doing task-based delegation because you're telling them how to do the task. You may allow them to make some tweaks to make the process more efficient, but in general, specific task, specific way, specific timeframe. So often this can feel like where you tend to be micromanaging. And so it's not super popular and people are like, you need to do. Like the next level you need to get beyond this level. Which is great. But task-based delegation actually works really well. If the task is pretty routine. And it doesn't require much. Decision-making. The person who's taking on the task and follow your procedures and create the outcome that you expect. So if somebody is new in their role or they're new to the business [00:06:00] world, Or they're new to this particular. Area of the business. This is going to be a really structured approach to allow them to be successful. So delegation of just tasks does have its place in the business. But it does require, but mostly provision and management. And as a result can be a bit more time-consuming for you. So what's the next level up? How do we jump up from task-based? Well, the next level of delegation. Is outcome. So delegating an outcome means your. Delegating a specific results or a goal to somebody. But you let them decide how to achieve it. So you get really clear on what you want them to do. So I want you to grow my Instagram. By 10% in six months time. Very specific outcome. But you are not saying, I want you to grow my Instagram by 10% in six months. And here's what I want you to do. I want you to post three times a day, these are the types of posts. No. So what we're doing when we move from task to outcome is we're inching closer to that callin stock in the field on behalf of her son level of delegation, right? So it requires you to have more trust in the individual, but that individual. Has to have the right experience and skills. And the ability to make decisions independently and to problem solve In that situation as well. So the process for delegating an outcome is slightly different in that you're going to get really specific about the outcome rather than the toss, a very specific about what does success look like? What is the results? That you are after. Based on that you are going to look at who you can delegate to who has the skills and experience and ability to do this. And then you want to have a really open conversation around what you expect and when you expect it by and allow them the opportunity to tell you where they think there might be challenges or constraints. And then you want to make sure that they have everything they need to achieve that outcome and that you're there to support. [00:08:00] But in a more hands-off way than you were in task-based. It doesn't mean you completely ignore it. you're still keeping track of progress and offering support and feedback where it needed. So again, where we were delegating the task, we were very specific about the task and how to do it. When we're delegating the outcome, we're delegating the result or the goal and allowing them to fill in the gaps around how best to achieve that. When you are recruiting somebody to be a team lead or to fit into like a leadership role in your business. I often see people giving very task-based job descriptions, right? You are hiring at that level at that team lead level. For somebody to know how to achieve the outcome. You're not hiring a team lead to delegate tasks to them. You're hiring a team leads, give them the outcome and for them to already have the knowledge and expertise to deliver that to you. So outcome-based delegation is great. And this is often where we're trying to get to, because you can see that it's more hands off for you and you could bring someone in who is outcome-based, who manages somebody who's task-based. But if you think of you managing two individuals, Task-based requires a lot more of your input and management than outcome-based does. So once we start hitting toss that are more complex, that require quite a bit of decision-making. And problem-solving, you're looking for somebody who can handle outcome. So you win because you get to be more hands off. And they win because they get to flex their muscles a little bit more as well. Now the third level of delegation is one that we don't very often see in small businesses. And this is strategic delegation. When his CEO delegates at a strategic level, It's usually to the C-suite. And it's based on. Your ability to trust the experience and the expertise of the person that you're delegating to. Because at the strategic level, delegation is about. Empowering that person. [00:10:00] To own the businesses, goals, and objectives, and to drive results. So you're not giving them an outcome. You're saying this is all gold for the year. Go forth and deliver this. So now we're in true Catlin stock territory, right? Maybe not a hundred percent, but we're getting there. You have given them the power and authority to make decisions and to act on behalf of you and the business. What you want to make sure of, if you are thinking about doing this, is that. You have very clear expectations and guidelines. And that you have strategic objectives that you have set. And that your values are in place to give that kind of boundary. So that people know. Where they can drive. Without veering off the road completely. What's great is if you can get to this level. Is it really frees you up to do that CEO, big vision. Next big moves kind of work. And still allows you to make informed decisions for the business. Because you've got all of this feedback coming into you from these strategic partners. But it does get a little complicated with small businesses. We can sometimes. As an industry, be a little free and easy with those C-suite titles. Right. Calling somebody a COO. Where. They do not have this power and authority to act on your behalf or on behalf of the business. Really becomes. A vanity title, whether you've given it to them because you're trying to keep them. Andy. You know, they want to be called that particular title. Or whether you want to be able to say that you have, for example, a COO. The title was out. The responsibility is not delegation. And just this level of delegation can be really hard to reach. In a small business, right? You might not have the team. You don't necessarily have the budget. To pay for somebody full time. So maybe you have fractionals for some of the roles to help you out, but even in those fractional roles, again, it's [00:12:00] that same delegation you're trusting the person. It always comes back to you're delegating authority and power. And you have trust. So think about the trust jumps that we've had to make from delegating a task where you're trusting someone to follow a task lists. To trusting someone with an outcome and letting them decide how to get to that outcome. And then trusting somebody with one of your big business goals. And trusting them to reach that goal and drive the rest of the team to reach that goal. So those jumps in trust. Is often the hurdle that most entrepreneurs think they're facing with delegation, We hear like, oh, it's quicker to do it myself. Or like, they won't do it the way I want to do it. Or. everybody's got a horror story of something they delegated to a team member and it was a complete disaster. And now you're terrified to do it again. That is all of that trust scale. You have to have that trust. To jump those levels. The problem is, is that what people don't talk about is how to get that trust. And this is the part that everybody seems to miss. Is we talk about delegation when we should be talking about development. We should be talking. About how do you develop your team? To be able to take on the responsibility at the next delegation level. Before we start thinking about, do I trust them to do it? Trust comes from consistently delivering on something you said you would do. Right. So if somebody has a task and they do it day after day, month after month, and they always do it and it always comes out right. You will trust them to do that. It doesn't equate to, I now trust you to figure out how to deliver this outcome. You have to invest in that person and develop them. So it's not just a straight swap people act like you can just flip a switch and now suddenly someone can deliver an outcome and that's why people fail. And that's why everything becomes a huge mess and people don't want to delegate. You have to think about what does the person need? [00:14:00] To be able to deliver on that outcome. What skills do they need to learn? What soft skills do they need to learn, which is often what gets forgotten. And how are you going to provide that? And then how are you going to provide them space for them to try. And from that trying. We'll come the trust. And it's the same at that next level, at that strategic level, what development do you need to give to somebody? For them to be able to shoulder the responsibility of a C suite level. Role in your business. How did they need to be developed to become a strategic partner for you? Everybody talks about hiring and getting stuff off of their plate and delegation coming from this. How does the serve me as the CEO? But it's a two way street. you have to develop trust in them. And the only way for you to develop trust in them, it's for you to develop them. So delegation in a small business is very much about the team. Not so much about the CEO.