Three Practical Steps for Deciding Which Tasks to Delegate in Your Business

Learning how to delegate tasks effectively is a crucial skill for growing your business. Thing is, it’s not always easy to know where to start if you’ve always done everything yourself. Sometimes, even if you have already delegated tasks to employees, it can be hard to see what the next step should be. 

Some people like to begin by delegating the tasks they most dislike or that they struggle to complete, but in our experience, those aren’t always the best ones to choose. Instead, focusing on tasks that bring the greatest return on investment to the company should be your priority. 

If you’ve identified that you need a new team member to take a few tasks off your hands, but aren’t sure where to start, here are three steps you can take to decide.

Three Practical Steps for Deciding Which Tasks to Delegate

1. List the major stress points in your business

Begin by thinking about what the top challenges are in your business and create a list. What are you not an expert in? Which tasks tend to take much longer than they need to?  

Additionally, think about the limitations you have on your own time. It might be that you don’t need someone with different skills, but instead, someone with the same skills as you to limit the challenges caused by the fact that there is only one of you. What challenges could be overcome, or what goals could be achieved, if you had a second pair of hands with the same set of skills?

2. Look at the benefits of hiring someone to focus on this area

Next, for each entry on your list, think about what the benefits would be to your business and to your clients if you were to hire someone to focus on that area. What would happen as a result of those tasks being taken care of by someone else? How does that task impact you, your business, or your clients in a positive way? 

Some of the tasks may not be enough for a full-time or even a part-time role. Don’t worry about this too much at this stage because you can combine a few tasks into one role when you reach that stage. For now, just focus on the benefits that the task is completed will bring to the business.  

If you’re struggling to think of a benefit beyond having something else ticked off your to-do list, consider whether that task is really necessary.

3. Rank the list of tasks and their benefits

Finally, rank the tasks on your list based on how much benefit they will bring the business. Which tasks would directly generate revenue for the business? The top item in the list should be the primary focus of your new team member. 

The primary focus needn’t be the sole focus of their role, though. If you have multiple tasks to delegate that could seamlessly weave together, you could combine them into one position. For example, if the primary focus is related to marketing, any similar tasks that you need help with could be added.

The tasks you dislike might not be the best to delegate first. Instead focus on the ones with the highest ROI.

How to take care of the remaining tasks on your list

It’s possible that there are a few stress points on your list that didn’t fit into the job role you have created. If so, there are a few options for making sure those outstanding tasks are still taken care of to help you to grow your business. 

  1. You could continue to complete the tasks yourself. It might be easier to complete them now that the other tasks on your list have been delegated.  
  2. You could look at adding another new team member to your business. It’s best to ensure each team member has their own focus rather than trying to assign someone several unrelated tasks which would divide their focus.

Master the art of hiring

Now that you’ve decided on the tasks that need to be delegated to your next team member or team members, it’s time to look at the next steps of hiring. 

It can be overwhelming to start this process, but we’re here to help. 

Download your copy of The Hiring Checklist: How to Hire the Right Team for Your Growing Business and learn the eight action steps you need to complete for a successful hiring process.

A process that not only leads you to a pool of your ideal candidates but also points you directly to the person you should hire because they can succeed in the role (and avoid hiring someone simply because they had a pretty resume!)

Three practical steps for deciding which tasks to delegate, Growing Your Team, Jamie Van Cuyk, Small Business hiring consulting