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Uncovering Our Team Narratives

This is the third post in a four-part series on uncovering the narratives we tell ourselves in business. If you missed the first two posts, be sure to click here and here to read them first!

Setting Expectations

Just like the narratives we tell ourselves regarding our abilities to lead a team, our team narratives can be just as, if not more, damaging.

I have a saying that I’ve used for years and have shared with countless leaders throughout my career. It goes like this:

“People will live up to, or down to, your expectations of them. What kind of expectations are you setting?”

It’s a similar sentiment to what Stephen R. Covey wrote in his acclaimed book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,

“Treat a man as he is and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be.”

When you set the bar low, people don’t have a lot to work toward or achieve. It’s demotivating and often demeaning. And it’s almost like giving them a free pass to just coast.

But here’s the thing – most people don’t want to “just coast.”

Meaningful work is the single largest contributor to a positive employee experience, a study by Globoforce revealed.

Sadly, only 10% of employees rate their employee experience a 10 out of 10 (YouEarnedIt) – which means there’s a LOT of room for improvement!

People want to make a difference, be a contributing and valued member of a team, and do meaningful work.

Now that you know what we’re working with, let’s check out some of the narratives we often tell ourselves and our teams that can be very damaging to the overall employee experience – and your business.

Common Narratives

We hear all the time in business that having a positive and optimistic mindset is a key factor for being successful and winning at life and business. The same is true for our teams.

When we feed them narratives that aren’t true, are negative, or are damaging to their mindset, we won’t get the very best effort from them, let alone have a cohesive, happy, and productive team.

Damaging narratives we tell ourselves and others about our teams:

Damaging narratives leaders have actually said to their team members:

    • You all never do what I ask. It’s like you don’t even care.
    • I obviously care more than anyone else on this team.
    • No one can do this right, so I’ll just do it myself.
    • Just do the job you were hired to do – nothing more.
      • This one was is typically in response to a team member trying to bring a new idea, thought, or suggestion to the table. Often, the leader is feeling threatened when they say something along these lines.

And the absolute worst thing you can do is talk about one team member’s performance, abilities, character, etc. to another person on your team. I promise this will end badly every single time. And you are not doing anyone any favors here.

If you need someone to vent to, it’s best to find an individual you can trust and rely upon outside of your business – a fellow leader, coach, advisor, or mentor – anyone other than another member of your team – to discuss your frustrations and concerns with.

Time for a bit of tough love. Are you ready?

If you are unhappy about or with your team, you need to take a look in the mirror, my friend. You’re the only constant in that scenario. And it likely means that you’re struggling in your leadership role.

Ouch. I know. That one hurt.

If you’re having a rise of emotions right now, that’s okay – lean into them. It’s simply a clue that it’s time for you to do a little personal development on your own leadership skills.

As I’ve said before, becoming a leader is just like anything else in this world. You have to learn new skills and then practice those skills often to become adept at anything.

Leading a team is tough.

It’s going to take your full commitment and a lot of self-discovery and personal development to grow in this role. But you can absolutely learn to become a great leader.

Company Culture

I talk about company culture a lot because it’s so incredibly important.

Company culture isn’t just about ping pong tables in the break room or flex time or luxury team retreats. Although those are all lovely and valuable perks at the right times.

Company culture is about so much more.

It’s about the narratives we tell in our businesses, how we treat our team members and how they treat one another, how decisions are made and who’s allowed to make them and more.

The narratives we tell and hold to be true are part of our company culture.

Employees feed off of the negative narratives we have about them. Even though you may never breathe a word about the thoughts you’re having to your team, they can sense it and feel it.

Remember, you control the narratives and the culture in your business, so be careful what experiences you’re creating for your team.

Leading a team will be the hardest and most important job you’ll ever have in your business (if you have or choose to have a team someday, of course).

Our team members will either live up to – or down to – our expectations. So make sure you’re keeping a positive mindset, developing your leadership skills, and setting those expectations high for your team.

Reframing Your Team Narratives

Now it’s time to take a look at how you can start reflecting on and reframing the narratives you’re currently telling yourself about your team.

Coincidentally, this process is very similar to the one we walked through last week about reframing your own leadership narratives.

It’s about self-exploration and digging in to learn more about why you feel and think the way you do about your team.

Below are just three examples of narratives you might have about your team. You’ll soon see a pattern for the types of questions you can ask yourself as you work through your own narratives.

Use these questions to help you uncover your own truth:

 

  • I have the worst team – I hired all the wrong people.
    • My team is underperforming. Where are they underperforming and why?
    • How can I help them?
    • Have I communicated the expectations to them clearly and frequently?
    • Does one team member or all of my team need some additional training?
    • Have I shared the vision and goal with them?
    • Do I have the right people in the right jobs doing the right tasks?
  • My team never follows through.
    • Am I giving them enough direction?
    • Do I set clear deadlines and stick to them?
    • Am I checking in with my team frequently to see if there are any roadblocks I can help them remove?
    • Do we have a clear process for our work so that everyone is informed and involved at the right times during each project?
    • Are there communication gaps in our workflow process?
  • My team isn’t as motivated as I need them to be.
    • Is my whole team unmotivated or just one person?
    • What’s the root cause of the lack of motivation?
      • (This will require talking with your team members and asking them what’s going on in their world. It could be something at home that has them distracted. The key here is open and honest communication without repercussions.)
    • What things truly motivate my team?
  • Positive reinforcement, flextime, small gifts/treats, etc.
    • Am I sharing an inspiring vision for the future that the whole team can get excited about?
    • Have I set clear, specific and measurable goals for my team that align with my vision and the overall company goals?
    • Am I checking in with my team members regularly and frequently to talk about their progress?

Final Thoughts

Once you dig in deeper to the specific issue(s) you’re facing with an open and objective mindset, you’ll begin to diagnose the true root cause of your problems.

Then, you’ll be able to craft a much more thoughtful and successful plan for how to handle this situation now and in the future.

And you’ll start seeing major improvements in the way your team functions, responds and works together.

What are some struggles you’re currently facing with your team and what steps do you need to take to resolve them?

Feeling stuck? Shoot me a note to hello@sprouthr.co and let’s brainstorm some ideas together.

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Uncovering Our Leadership Narratives

This is the second post in a four-part series on uncovering the narratives we tell ourselves in business. If you missed the first post, be sure to click here to read it first!

Last week, we started to explore the topic of narratives – or stories – we tell ourselves in business. We talked all about how it’s easier to fuel that narrative and look for information that supports it, rather than uncover the truth of the situation we’re in and work on a new, more positive narrative.

This week, we’re going to take a deeper look our leadership narratives.

We’ll talk about some of the most common narratives, why and how these can be damaging, and ways you can crush these narratives and step into your truth.

Common Damaging Narratives

First, let’s take a look some common damaging narratives we tell ourselves as leaders. These are all examples of narratives I’ve heard from leaders and clients throughout the years:

  • I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a leader.
  • I should just hire someone else to manage my team.
  • I’m not good at dealing with conflict.
  • I have a hard time teaching others how to do what I do.
  • If I want [insert any task here] done right, I should just do it myself.
  • I have trouble letting go and trusting someone else.
  • My team needs a lot of hand-holding or nothing gets done.
  • I struggle with feeling confident enough to lead my lead.

Have you ever thought or said anything similar?

If you have, keep reading to learn more about why these narratives can be damaging to you and your business and how to overcome them.

Why Narratives Can Be Damaging

The more we tell ourselves these types of negative narratives, the more we believe them. And the more we believe them, the more we find other bits of information to support them as “facts.”

As I mentioned in the first post of this series, this is something called confirmation bias, which simply means we look for information that supports something we already believe.

This can become damaging because when we tell ourselves these types of narratives, we have a tendency to make mountains out of molehills.

Take this scenario for example:

A new team member misses a minor task in a big project. When you learn of it, you immediately get frustrated and think, “If I had just done this myself this wouldn’t have happened. Ugh! I knew hiring help wasn’t going to be worth it.”

By responding this way, you’re using the information (aka situation) to confirm your previously held beliefs that “hiring isn’t worth it,” and “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.”  

But let’s be real honest for a minute, okay? You can’t tell me that you’ve never ever missed a step or had something fall through the cracks or made a mistake at least once in your career.

We’re human. We make mistakes. We miss things. If we’re new to a job or a project, sometimes we don’t what we don’t know.

So blowing up a simple mistake into a big ordeal to support your negative narrative doesn’t do you, your team, or your business any good.

In fact, looking for ways to support these narratives can do a lot of harm.

They keep us from reaching our goals and chasing down our dreams. They can put a halt on the momentum we’ve created in our businesses and our lives and leave us stalled on a plateau.

Why We Tell Ourselves Narratives

So why do we tell ourselves these narratives?

Because we’re scared and unsure and just trying to figure things out as we go.

We fear feelings of inadequacy or being judged by others or even letting down our future team.

It’s overwhelming to learn something new in the midst of all the other things we have going on and responsibilities we have.

Everything we do in our businesses is a risk and opens us up for failure. And that’s not a small thing to bat an eyelash at, right? I’m right there with you. It can be downright terrifying some days!

Hiring and leading a team of people is something a lot of us can avoid or put off for far longer than other things we’re kind of forced into by simply being small business owners.

But it doesn’t have to be this way, my friend.

Crushing the Narratives

If we don’t crush these negative narratives, they’ll certainly crush us. But how do you do it?

Whenever you realize you’re telling yourself a narrative about your ability (or inability) to lead, take these three steps:

  1. Pause – Now that you’re aware that these negative narratives exist, I bet you’ll notice them more often. We all have them! So when you do, pause and take a deep breath.
  2. Reflect – Take a few minutes to think about where this narrative came from. Was it something you heard at home when you were growing up? Or maybe one of your first bosses or mentors used to say similar things. Figure out where this story came from.
  3. Ask – Why do I believe this? Is it true? If not, what are some ways I can turn this negative narrative into a positive one?

Let’s look at a quick example of someone who has created positive narratives in his mind rather than negative ones:

Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, didn’t just wake up one day in 2000 and say, “Hmm, the Olympics are taking place in Sydney this year. I think I’ll try out for the Olympic team and win a bunch of gold medals.”

And he certainly doesn’t sit around thinking, “I’ll never win a race. I’m a terrible swimmer and I’m just not good at the butterfly stroke.”

The reality is that he has spent years and years practicing and honing his craft and cultivating the mindset of a champion through the narratives he’s told himself every day and before every competition.

Michael has an entire visualization routine he goes through each time he competes.

Every single detail is visualized from the moment he steps up to the starting platform and the race begins, to each stroke he’ll take and where the walls of the pool are in relation to where he’s at in the water. He visualizes the turns he’ll need to make and even the final moment when he emerges from the water victorious.

He even visualizes pitfalls that may come up – like if his goggles fill with water or his swim cap comes off – so he can be prepared.

But he focuses on winning and how he’s going to win –  not on negative self-talk and untrue stories about his abilities.

In the same way that swimming is an athletic endeavor one must learn and practice daily, so is leadership.

I don’t buy into the idea that leaders are born. Sure, it may be true for some, but not for the majority. Even those who were born with natural leadership qualities know the importance of continuing to learn and grow and hone their skill set.

If you think you’re not cut out to be a leader, I challenge you to think again. It might just be a new skill for you to learn and practice.

Final Thoughts

What damaging narratives are you telling yourself about becoming or being a leader in your business – and what truth are you actually living in?

Are you really someone who can’t handle conflict, has a hard time letting go, or can’t teach someone else how to do what you do?

Or have you just not learned and practiced the skills you need to successfully do so?

My bet would be on the latter. 😉

The more we tell ourselves we CAN do something, the more likely it will be to happen. So let’s crush those negative narratives, so you can step into your leadership potential and keep reaching for those big dreams and goals.

Next week, we’re going to dive into the narratives we tell our teams. And I promise it’s gonna be so good you won’t want to miss it!

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Uncovering Our Business Narratives

I love true crime podcasts. It’s my favorite genre of podcast to listen to when I’m not binging on all the usual business ones.

I recently started listening to Someone Knows Something, by CBC Radio. During the first season, they tell the story of a little 5-year old boy, Adrien McNaughton, who was last seen over 40 years ago during a summer fishing trip near his home in Eastern Ontario, Canada.

Haunting, sad, and puzzling (he vanished without a single trace), I was listening intently when a phrase unexpectedly snatched my attention away from the story that was unfolding.

“It’s easier to believe the narrative you want than the truth you’re in.”

I paused the episode to write this sentence down in the notepad app on my phone (which is where I keep stories and tidbits from my everyday life that I want to share with you).

And then I sat with that phrase for a while, turning it over in my mind, “It’s easier to believe the narrative you want than the truth you’re in.”

“It’s easier to believe the narrative you want than the truth you’re in.”

In the episode, David Ridgen, host and director, was talking about how investigators can become biased by trying to fit together pieces of evidence in support of their initial suspicion, the story they’ve been crafting, or their narrative.

There’s actually an official term for this phenomenon called “confirmation bias.” According to Wikipedia, confirmation bias is “the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.”

Wikipedia further explains that “the effect is stronger for emotionally charged issues and for deeply entrenched beliefs.” Kind of like in the case of a little 5-year old missing boy who disappeared without one single shred of evidence.

So what does this have to do with you – a small business owner who is growing and leading a team?

And why is your friendly HR gal writing about true crime podcasts and lost little boys on her blog?

Because there are lessons we can learn from all areas of our life if we’re paying attention. This is one of those times and one of those places.

You see, as I sat thinking about this line that had snagged my attention, it hit me how we have a tendency to form many business narratives (or stories) about our own businesses.

Like my client, Betty*, who was stressing out big time because she thought she needed to hire 3 full-time employees – a huge expense and commitment. Because that’s what this successful business owner that she followed had done and so that must be what she needed to do in order to be successful, as well.

When in reality, Betty just needed to put some solid systems in place and hire a virtual assistant to get the relief she needed. But she couldn’t see that option because of the narrative she was telling herself about what success looks like.

Or my other client, Cameron*, who thought he absolutely 100% needed to hire someone locally. Problem was, he couldn’t find the type of highly-skilled technical help he needed in his small rural town.

Once Cameron took my advice to look for someone virtually, he found the perfect fit! He had been entrenched in the traditional mindset of having a team who worked out of the same office, that he couldn’t see the possibilities that would open up for him if he broadened his search a bit.

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you about my client Sarah*, who felt like she was doing a great job leading her team. Except that her entire team didn’t listen to her, rarely did what she asked, lacked motivation, and were continuously late or calling out of work. She was convinced that she had hired the worst people possible and actually asked me if she could just fire them all and start over.

After convincing her to take a breath and slow down, we dug deep into how she was leading her team. Sarah soon came to realize that it was her own lack of leadership skills that was causing most of the headaches she was experiencing with her team (or at the very least, weren’t helping her).

Once we uncovered the truth in her narrative, I started working on some leadership development with Sarah and her team started turning around. Now she’s happier and more excited to lead her great team than ever before.

It’s easy to get lost in the stories, or narratives, we tell ourselves:

  • I have to hire 3 full-time employees because that’s what success looks like.
  • I need to hire someone locally because that’s how good businesses operate.
  • My team is the worst because I must have hired all the wrong people.

Once we get so far down the rabbit-hole, it’s hard for us to see any other narratives – especially the truth.

But it’s essential for making sure you’re taking the right steps, getting the right help, and that you’re reflecting on your own strengths and weakness as a leader and business owner accurately.

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be exploring the various types of narratives we tell ourselves and our team members.

We’ll be digging into ways we can break out of those narratives to uncover the truth of the situations we find ourselves in.

And I’ll be sharing a bit about some of the narratives I’ve told myself and how I’m working on uncovering my own truth.

What narratives are you telling yourself right now that aren’t accurate?

Check out the next post in this series here.

*Names changed for privacy.

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4 Ways I Prepared My Small Business for Summer Break

The entire month of May, we’ve been talking all about how to prepare your business for summer break by:

But, what does this actually look like in real life?

If you’re like me, I love to see how other business owners are doing the thing I’m thinking of trying. It gives me a sense of do-ability (let’s just go ahead and add that one to the dictionary!).

That’s why for the last post of May, I’m giving you a peek into how I’m preparing my own business to capture all those sweet summer vibes!

Content Batching

Let me just put this out there up front: I’ve never been a big content batcher.

I love writing when I’m inspired. And batching feels so against the grain for me.

BUT, I knew that if I wanted to enjoy my summer more this year – and not be thinking about writing a blog every week – I would have to try something new.

So, I buckled down and got serious about my summer content this year. Here’s how I did it in 4 easy steps:

  1. Mapped out a theme for each month to build my content around
  2. Reviewed what content I could
    • Refresh
    • Repurpose
    • Reshare
  3. Determined what I needed to fill in the gaps
  4. Batched all of my writing
    • Blog Posts
    • Newsletters
    • Social Media

With just a bit of planning ahead, I got my content ready to go for the entire summer – and it feels great!

Outsourcing (More)

I love my team of business managers, specialists, and professionals over at She Can Coterie.

They’re amazing at helping me with everyday tasks, advanced technical setups, and keeping my business running smoothly each and every week!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been spending more time with them outsourcing new tasks and getting them set up to do tackle some of the bigger projects in my business.

But this couldn’t happen if I didn’t take the time to think ahead and make a plan, by:

  • Creating an outline of what I wanted to accomplish over the summer, and
  • Making time to clearly communicate that plan with the team.

If you’re going to hire some help – and get the biggest return on your investment – you need to have to plan in place for the partnership to work well.

Having a plan and making time to clearly communicate that plan with your team will help you reach those goals with ease this summer.

Creating Boundaries

This summer, I’ve committed to taking Fridays off.

Last year, I said I was going to take Fridays off to enjoy the summer a bit more, catch up with friends, take long weekend trips, etc.

But that didn’t happen.

The problem was, I didn’t make a plan for it. I didn’t tell anyone. And in the end, I didn’t take one Friday off all summer. Ouch!

This year, I’m committing to taking Fridays off by being more intentional. I’m:

  • Communicating my “no-Fridays” rule frequently and with the right people
  • Adjusting my “office hours” in my email signature
  • Blocking Fridays off in my calendar through August

Setting work boundaries is great.

Making a plan for sticking to those boundaries is even better!

If you have a goal of taking some time off this summer, whether it’s not working on Fridays like me or maybe working a reduced number of hours each day, then:

  • make a plan for it
  • commit to it
  • tell others about it
  • then make it happen

Saying “No”

I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time saying “no.”

I’m a people pleaser, which means saying “no” makes me feel like I’m letting people down.

But I recently had an epiphany.

I’ve been participating in The Quarterly Planning Circle this year. It’s hosted by my dear friend, Kathryn Hofer, owner of Modern Planner, where she helps you live a more intentional life through planning.

One area we’ve been working on in this group program is loving our schedule. With scheduling comes planning out your work functions and projects, making sure you leave time for life to happen, and establishing priorities.

During the program, I realized I wasn’t bringing my big projects and dreams to life because I’ve been too busy saying “yes” to everyone else… and saying “no” to myself.

Woah! Back this turnip truck up.

Turns out that I was great at saying “no” all along. Problem is, I was great at saying “no” to myself.

So I made a commitment – nay a proclamation! – to say “no” this summer.

Not because I’m mean or I don’t care about anyone else or I don’t want to help others.

But because I’m important too. My goals and dreams matter. And I deserve to say “yes” to myself.

Final Thoughts

In the end, each of our summer plans and preparations will look different. What works for me, may not work for you – and vice versa.

Think about what’s most important to you this summer (in life and in business) and then make a plan to bring those goals to life.

As the old saying goes, “A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Let’s turn those wishes into goals and those goals into plans – and then crush them together!

Are you in?

I’d love to know how you’re preparing to enjoy your summer break! Comment below or email me at hello@sprouthr.co and tell me all about your summer plans and what you’re most looking forward to this year.

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The Art of Delegation: How to Trust and Let Go

Delegation.

It’s one of those words in the English language that strikes fear into the heart of many.

And if you’re a small business owner with a growing need for a team, it’s probably making you cringe right this very minute!

Many people struggle with the idea of delegation because it means having to let go. And that can bring up feelings of losing control.

For the entrepreneur, this is especially tough since we kind of enjoy running the whole show ourselves. I mean, that’s why we all ran screaming from the corporate structure in the first place, right?

Tell me if you’ve ever had any of these thoughts:

 

  • “I don’t know if I’ll be able to let go.”
  • “I’m the only one who knows how to do this – the right way.”
  • “I’ve worked so hard at perfecting my process – I can’t chance anyone messing it up.”
  • “I know I need to let go, but I just don’t know how.”
  • “How will I ever be able to trust someone else to do this? This business is my baby!”

 

If you’ve had similar thoughts, you’re not alone.

These are just a few of the phrases that my clients have said to me during conversations we’ve had about delegating.

A lot of small business owners feel like they’ll never be able to delegate effectively. But you absolutely can – and I’m going to teach you how.

Redefining Delegation

Before we dive right in, let’s take a closer look at delegation.

As I mentioned before, delegation seems so frightening because it feels like we’re losing control. But I want to help you redefine delegation today so it doesn’t feel so intimidating.

Think of delegating as the next natural step in designing a business and life that you love. It’s something you get to do for yourself as part of taking care of yourself and your business.

Delegation isn’t about losing control. It’s about gaining even greater freedom and flexibility.

Delegation as a Form of Self-Care

There’s a lot of chatter in the online business world about self-care.

It’s become another hashtag-of-the-moment that’s posted along with a clever caption and a perfectly curated photo of a bubble bath, a cup of steaming hot tea, or a lit scented candle in a decorative jar.

Don’t get me wrong – there’s nothing wrong with those things. I like them too.

But I think self-care gets a bad rap. Because it’s so much more than just a mani/pedi/latte combo.

Delegation can absolutely be a form of self-care.

You have to think about it a bit more creatively, but the benefits of delegating can far outlast that 20-minute bubble bath. (‘Cause let’s be real, that’s as long as the water’s gonna stay warm in that tub!)

Here are a few ways you can look at delegation a bit differently:

  • Lighten your workload and focus on work you’re exceptionally good at doing.
  • Reduce the overwhelm of trying to do everything perfectly by yourself.
  • Time to spend with your family in the evenings…instead of another 4 hours at work.

Okay, now that we’ve gotten into the right mindset about delegation, let’s dig into how we can trust and let go!

3 Steps to Help You Trust and Let Go

1 – Start small and delegate simple tasks first.

The first and most important step to take when you start outsourcing and delegating tasks is to start small.

You don’t have to turn over the keys to your business on day one (or ever)!

Choose a few simple tasks to delegate first that you either don’t enjoy doing or that take up a ton of your time.

These are different for everyone. It comes down to personal preference.

The key here is to start small.

2 – Give clear instructions and deadlines.

One of the biggest mistakes new leaders make is not communicating with their team by setting clear expectations.

In order to delegate effectively, you need to give clear instructions and deadlines.

If you ever find yourself wondering why things aren’t being done correctly or on time, take a look at how you’re communicating assignments and tasks with your team.

I highly recommend a simple method I like to call the “tell and repeat.” It works like this:

  • Tell your team member what you specifically need for them to do or handle, along with a clear deadline, then
  • Ask the person to repeat back to you what they just heard, so you can make sure you didn’t miss anything.

You can learn a lot about how you communicate with your team by doing this super simple exercise.

I’ve had great success using this method myself and so have many of the leaders I’ve worked with throughout the years.

Give it a try!

3 – Trust your team and let go.

The last, and arguably the hardest, step is to trust your team when you delegate tasks – and then let go.

You have to give the person a chance to do the job before assuming or jumping to conclusions that they can’t.

If you’re constantly hovering, nit-picking, or micromanaging your team, I promise you it’s not going to work.

Eventually, you’ll begin to wonder why you have a hard time keeping team members at all…which is not somewhere I want you to be, my friend.

Merriam-Webster defines delegation as “the act of empowering to act for another.”

It doesn’t say, “give the person a task, but then don’t let them do it because you’re hovering and micromanaging them.”

Other than that being a truly unsexy definition (sorry, Merriam-Webster!), it completely defeats the purpose of delegating altogether.

If you don’t give the person a chance to do the job, you might as well just do it yourself.

But I’m guessing you didn’t come here to learn how to keep doing the same things you’re doing to get different results. 😉

Assign the task, give clear instructions and a deadline, and then let go and trust that it will get done.

The Art is in the Follow Up

I know that last step can be a tough one. Being able to trust that things will get done is not easy. Especially when it’s your name and reputation on the line.

But delegating does not mean letting go and never coming back.

As a leader, and especially as a small business owner, it’s your responsibility to know and stay on top of what’s going on in your business.

Things can spiral out of control if you don’t keep your finger on the pulse of a task, project, or business. You have to stay informed.

Part of effectively delegating is putting a process in place to follow up on and keep track of projects or tasks you’ve assigned to your team.

Every leader is different and you need to choose what works best for you. Just make sure to communicate the plan with your team!

Here are a few ideas for how to manage the tasks and projects you delegate:

  • Use a project management tool like Trello or Asana to house all of your projects along with tasks and due dates
  • Ask your team to send you weekly email updates recapping their project statuses and milestones
  • Conduct a daily team meeting (in person or virtually) where each person shares an update on their project and/or any roadblocks they’re experiencing

When you have a plan for following up, you’ll avoid surprises, snowballing problems, and you’ll keep projects and tasks on track much easier. Not to mention, you’ll lose a lot less sleep!!

Delegation is an Art… and a Skill

Delegation is an art… and a skill we must learn as leaders.

We become skilled by practicing and making mistakes. So don’t be afraid to jump in. It’s the best way to learn.

Remember to start small, give clear instructions and a deadline, then trust and let go.

As your comfort levels rise, gradually let go of more. Before long you’ll wonder why you didn’t start delegating sooner.