Quick Insight
Very few things can never be delegated. All else is better done by others but needs to be reviewed by you. Keep your focus on where you provide the most value and your roles as owner.
What can you delegate and what should you delegate? When are you delegating tasks and when are you just abdicating your responsibilities?
Strategy can never be outsourced. That doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. You need other people to help you develop your ideas and test them for reasonableness. It’s better to have your ideas rejected by trusted colleagues and advisors than to have the market mercilessly expose your plan’s weaknesses.
Most tasks can and should be delegated. Other people can likely do them better and cheaper. Holding on to these because you think you can do it cheaper or faster is just jumping over dollars to save dimes. I recently started using a virtual assistant company and love it. It's saved me many hours and dollars.
Your role is to set boundaries and let others roam free in those boundaries to create value for you. However, these delegated processes need to be reviewed by you for effectiveness and efficiency. Not reviewing delegated tasks is an abdication of your responsibility – and profits. I can tell you horror stories of employees that took advantage of owners who abdicated their oversight responsibility.
I wish you focus on where you provide the most value. I wish you well.
- Rob Stephens
Further Insight
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