We are all getting busier and busier. Entrepreneurs and managers sometimes work 70-80 hour weeks and work until late in the evening. And the weekend? Even the weekend has to be taken care of. What causes that? Are our plans wrong? Are we structurally planning too little capacity? Or is there other reasons for the high workload? We think the latter is the case and we owe that (partly) to ourselves. Entrepreneurs and managers have great difficulty delegating work. Do you also have trouble with this? Then this blog is really something for you.

Why is delegation so important?

Delegating work is the most obvious and efficient way to reduce your own workload and... maximum from the available capacity of your organization to get. And yet in practice it often proves very difficult. Entrepreneurs in particular, but also many managers, have a strong tendency towards micromanagement. They want to be involved in all the details and put their stamp on everything in order to ensure optimal quality. A characteristic that can be commended on the one hand, because a strong vision can of course make a difference, but on the other hand, it often has an enormous inhibitory effect on the organization. In addition, it also significantly increases your own stress perception.

Delegation has always been important, but it is becoming increasingly important in a tough economic climate. Support functions are increasingly being removed in view of budget cuts. Administrative work and pressure therefore fall on management or senior employees more often than before. That is a major risk for the organization. Expensive people do 'cheap' work, which means they can no longer fully focus on the more strategic issues that can actually help your organization. Delegation is therefore a hot item in many organizations in 2016. Time for action and advice.

This is how you delegate

Delegation can of course be done in many different ways. Entrepreneurs and managers often use incorrect performance of tasks as an argument against delegation. However, as with many other activities, there is the 'garbage in, garbage out' principle. If you do not brief properly, the output will not be as desired. If you want to delegate effectively, you can consider the following steps.

Step 1: get your own affairs in order!

It all starts with your own planning. Have you properly organized and registered your to-do list for yourself? Only then will you be able to properly determine which things you really need to do yourself and what you could easily delegate. Your own priority list is decisive for the success of what you are going to delegate. There are now many useful mobile apps available, such as Any.do or Todoist.

Step 2: who will you delegate to?

Have you determined which tasks you want and can delegate? Then the next question is of course who you will delegate to. Do you even have capacity at your disposal and do you trust the person or persons who qualify enough? And finally, does this person have enough time to take over your tasks? These are all questions you will have to answer. Recently, even if you have no capacity available within your organization, you can still simply delegate. How? With the Do-its app from Moneypenny. This 'uber for work' gives you the opportunity to set tasks that are then completed remotely by virtual assistants or professionals. A marketplace for delegating work.

Step 3: it's all about the briefing!

As said: garbage in, garbage out. If your letter is unclear, poor or incomplete, you cannot expect the output to be as expected. So where possible, work with a fixed template for delegating your tasks. In any case, always include what needs to be done, what resources are available, who or what is needed to implement it, what the expected result is, what the deadline is, and up to what the powers of the the executor.

Step 4: stay in control

Delegating does not stop after the briefing. Throwing something over the fence and then waiting is not the right solution. Especially for your own peace of mind, you should always remain in control of the process. For example, you can maintain a project management tool together with your employees in which tasks are assigned to people. Tools such as Vivify or Basecamp, for example, are interesting options.

In addition to the fact that more and more tasks can be automated, as an entrepreneur and manager you have more and more apps and tools at your disposal to delegate effectively. However, the biggest hurdle is overcoming your own personality. Start delegating today to prevent your organization from suffering.