Allow me to demystify what some people believe is the unattainable art of delegation. This somewhat unique skill seems to leave people drowning in an abyss of paperwork in a bid to maintain some semblance of control in their day to day business life... if only they knew what a contradiction this was and in fact how easy it is to share the load.  Sound familiar?  Are you guilty of this too?

Whilst admirable in your quest for success, clinging on tight to your workload isn’t sustainable in the long term as it can affect your health and other areas of your life.  Letting go of certain tasks will release you to work on more strategic and fundamental tasks leaving you time to focus on other key functions to grow your business.  The by-product of this is you'll secure more time doing what you love to do most in life.

Warning signs you aren’t delegating enough·            

• You’re feeling overwhelmed
• Unsure where to start with your never ending pile-high in-tray or to-do list
• Deadlines aren’t being met
• Working long hours - burning the candle at both ends
• You feel indispensable
• Your kids forget who you are
• Your partner no longer recognises you
• You've got a bed set up in your office
• You're exhausted

Delegating more effectively
When done correctly, delegation can be mutually beneficial for all concerned, however, it doesn’t mean everything should be delegated.  Successful delegation relies on choosing the appropriate tasks to delegate and to the right people.  To achieve successful delegation, below are some obvious tasks that you should consider for delegation.

Anything that can be completed more efficiently by someone else with the appropriate expertise:

1. Tasks you’re not good at (ie marketing, graphic design, social media)
2. Whole tasks or projects (ie moving office, social media schedule, product launch)
3. Time wasting tasks (ie checking emails and making appointments)
4. Routine or regularly occurring tasks (ie accounts)

Choosing the right team
Surrounding yourself with a competent team of support staff and / or contractors, with an attitude that aligns with you and your business, will ensure a win-win for all concerned as your team relish the opportunity of added responsibility and supporting your dream.  Put simply, delegate, delegate, delegate. 

Here are my top tips to get it right the first time:

1. Choose carefully who you delegate to, ensuring they are a good culture fit for not only you, but your business
2. Clearly articulate the desired outcome; begin with the end in mind being explicit with expectations
3. Be supportive and provide guidance
4. Trust the individual assigned to manage the task
5. Communicate regularly with the person who’s been delegated the task (without micro-managing), ensuring they know you’re available to them if required.  It goes without saying too, that you need to be kept in the loop if any concerns arise.

What not to delegate
If not done in the right way, delegating can at times create more work, as you could find yourself spending more time editing people's errors and resolving any misunderstandings.

This could result in you thinking delegation is not worth the effort, and you'll then find yourself back at square one.  So to avoid that scenario, below are some examples of what not to delegate:

• Managing crises
• Monitoring financial matters
• Vague projects / tasks without first knowing the desired outcome
• Staff matters (ie reprimand or praise)

Quick steps to get started on delegating today·            

• Set your priorities and decide what you’re wanting to achieve in the short and long term
• Track your time on various tasks to be aware of what you are spending the most time on
• Decide what and to whom you are going to delegate
• Decide the project’s timelines and if there’s any consequence if the work is not completed on time
• Delegate, delegate, delegate

Summary
In the beginning, delegation can seem overwhelming and possibly not worth the effort, however with effective delegation, you can expand immensely on the amount of work that you generate.

When your workload is being managed more efficiently, you will be able to spend more quality time on what’s important to you in your quest for success.
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To delegate effectively, choose the right tasks to delegate, identify the right people to delegate to, and delegate in the right way. There's a lot to this, but you'll achieve so much more with your business going from strength to strength once you're delegating effectively!

If you mention business administration to many small business owners, they’ll give an involuntary shudder.

For so many people in small business, especially start up enterprise, VAs are game changers. Virtual assistance allows businesses bootstrapping or powering through a growth spurt to employ invaluable experience and knowledge to the team.

So, what separates the VAs you cannot do business without from the ones you just like?

Think about it.  If you’ve worked with VAs in your professional career, you’ve probably found some that got the job done, but left you feeling like they were a little half hearted
about your brand.  When you come across a VA who leaves you feeling like you’re on top of the world. You only know them through their work and their emails, possibly you’re friends on Facebook, but somehow when you deal with them you feel like you’ve found a crucial asset to your business. So what’s the difference?

This sounds like one of those abstract ideas that can’t be put into words. It seems like a matter of intuition or just a feeling that someone just “clicks” between you and your assistant. In a way, it is. There’s more to it than that, though – and yes, there IS a reason some VAs feel like personal and business saviours more than others.

So what does separate the good VAs from the great ones can be boiled down to one concept:  Passion. 

Passion starts with a genuine desire to care about a client and a drive to make a client feel special as an individual. It’s one thing to provide efficient, intuitive, professional and proficient business support.  It’s a whole other ball game to add the personal touches… these actions leave clients feeling like you truly appreciate them and you’re working for the overall good of their business.

Passion means providing an elite service.  I'm offering something that nobody else in the industry (or in the world!) can offer – me! It’s not always something that can be articulated as a point of difference; rather, the proof is in the pudding.

Anyone can say they go above and beyond for a client.  Saying and doing are two different things.

Passion means that I’m taking immense pride in the work I do for my clients and being invested in their business outcomes.

My clients are inspirational, trailblazing women entrepreneurs in the areas of health, wellness, and self development.  It’s easy to be passionate about the work I do for them because I believe, together, we’re making the world better. I know that without me, they wouldn’t find their job as easy.

I’m an essential wheel in the cogs of important work.  As a VA, I’m effectively an extension of my client. I need to know my clients' brand inside and out, feel out their strengths and weaknesses, and act as a balance. This will ensure I become indispensable and give clients those moments of pride that will propel them through the harder days.

And when you truly love what you do, when you feel their victories and failures, when you take pride in your work and you can feel the sheer emotion behind their ‘thank you’, you’re offering an exclusive service. That’s me.

Passion compels me to go above and beyond in whatever I do. Passion combined with follow through will launch your small business from decent to stratospheric! My clients never think to look anywhere else but directly at me. And I’ve earnt myself a reputation for being 100% in love with my work. Passion also drives me to be proactive rather than reactive. It allows me to work at 110% effciency while at the same time maintaining a sense of humour, letting my client feel less like they’re talking to a faceless freelancer on the internet and more like a cherished friend. It pushes me to innovate and stay ahead of the pack.

It allows me to develop and maintain a strong work ethic, ensures I keep learning and loving my job, which means clients sing my praises from the internet rooftops.

One of my clients recently posted a public comment about my work. She called me an “angel” and said she guesses I make “all my clients feel like they’re my most important
clients”. 

I do.  Because they are.  I believe in them.  I believe in me.
I believe in what we’re working together to achieve.
And I’m passionate about it.