Empowering your Team: The Art of Trust in Delegation

Are you hindering your business's growth because you've had negative experiences with staff delegation, or perhaps you believe that no one else can perform a task as well as you, or you're unclear about your own needs, making it impossible for your staff to assist you? In this episode, we'll tackle these issues, highlighting the significance of defining clear workflows, roles, responsibilities, and communication in business leadership. We'll dissect it as follows:

1.  Setting a Solid Foundation
2.  Risk Management and Delegation
3. Consistent Communication
4.  Continuous Improvement

Time is your greatest asset. Let's start managing your time for more strategic and leadership-oriented tasks AND allow your staff and business to grow in a fun low risk way.

  xoxo, Lynn

Love this episode and want to learn more about how to be a Conscious Leader and hit work and life sideways? Check out the links below. XOXO Lynn

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Transcript

Empowering your Team: The Art of Trust in Delegation

[00:00:00] 

Welcome to the lead her shift podcast, women leading in five D where conscious leadership meets your higher self. I'm your host Lynn Everhart. And this week we are going to discuss. Trust in delegation. So this episode is for all you little control freaks out there. Those of you who think, Oh, it's easier if I do these tasks for my business myself, or no one can do this job as well as me, or everything has to be perfect or it can't be executed.

Babes been there, done that bottleneck my business in the process and suffered financially and in growth potential because of it. If you are a mover and shaker like me, you are constantly innovating and growing with your business, which means you're having to stay way ahead of work strategies. And to do that, you need brain space. And in order to get that, you need an effective and simple process for delegation. The goal here is you should not be involved in the day to day tasks [00:01:00] for most of your workflows to run your business. And I would even venture to say the business should for the most part run itself. Shocking. I know, but if I have to be involved, I'm really not doing something right. And I want that freedom for you as well. So when it, it comes to trust in delegation, folks, where do we start?

.... first, we want to set a solid foundation. 

 Establishing trust with your team is pivotal for delegation to cultivate this trust. It begins with you. The leader creating a robust structure where both you and your staff can thrive is essential. So the first thing you need to have is a one pager.

Every company needs a one pager. This template is designed to be clear and concise. It provides like a snapshot of your company and that can be quickly understood by anyone who reads it. So remember to keep it updated as your company evolves. This document outlines your [00:02:00] target market sectors and specialties serving as a foundational tool for your team.

It's not just about setting goals. It's about aligning your team towards a common vision and also the why's behind it. You'd be surprised how many Leaders. don't really explain the why to the staff behind it. And they're just kind of left out there floating. They're not connecting the concepts.

That's real important for getting your team to trust you and understand as a leader, like, Hey, this is kind of where the vision is. This is where I feel it's going to, where it's going to go. And this is why I'm, I'm picking this. This is why I am bridging these concepts in order to have an action.

So understanding your business's workflows across sales operations and production is super key. Implementing clear SOPs or standard operating procedures for each segment that kind of ensures that your staff knows their roles, their responsibilities, and the KPIs or key performance indicators that measure success. 

A pivotal part in standard [00:03:00] operating procedures are QA QCs, like really getting quality assurance and quality control. And that comes down to tasks that are being repeated, repeated in delegation. Every single one should have a checklist. And Again, it could be as easy as making a loom video, showing whoever you're delegating it to exactly what you're doing and making sure that they're doing it.

But it's accountability. You can have a great system and a great process, but you have to check, you have to hold them accountable. And once you get a flavor of how you can trust that person when you're doing it, it gets easier and easier. But You have to have a process, you have to have a way that the person is held accountable for following the process and that you can see that those little details, those little nuances that make you exceptional are being implemented in the stuff you're delegating them to do.

You have to kind of know From top to bottom, how you get work to [00:04:00] punch out, close out of every process. And if you're not clear on that as a leader, how on earth are you going to expect your staff to? And when you really hone in on these things and really get clear on how you measure success, this is where the secret sauce is.

And the magic happens. There's not guessing you're being intentional. it's clarity. It fosters a proactive rather than reactive approach to business within your team. And that makes your team trust you. They can see the results in real time. And the best part is they're in control of a lot of it.

You're giving them that freedom. But you're also controlling it so that you don't have to worry about it. And that's so foundational for trust and delegation. It also identifies gaps in your workflow, like who you might need to hire, or maybe who you might need to get rid of because you just don't know. Don't really need somebody sitting in their chair and not really doing anything for you for 40 hours a week. I dive [00:05:00] into deeper detail for this kind of workflow and SOP stuff in pod episode six. So see that link in the show notes.

So you have these great workflows, you have great SOPs, you have your org chart, you understand how your business should be flowing. And now you want to start delegating. You need more time. You need more brain space to do all those wonderful things that you do with that beautiful brain of yours. And so when delegating, the first thing you need to keep in mind is risk management.

You worked so hard to foster all of those amazing relationships and clients as well as expand your network and get a stellar reputation. You don't want to leave that open to unnecessary risk. So first step is knowing your team. You have the, the roles and responsibilities, but who are you putting in the seats to embrace those roles and have those responsibilities?

You should know your team well enough to be able to assess what they can likely handle regarding work [00:06:00] tasks and what may not be the realm of success. Specialty. It's good head honcho housekeeping to meet with staff regularly until you have a good feel with them to see what makes them tick, what lights them up, what brings them joy, what they hate doing, and what are their soul skills?

Your most powerful players on your business chessboard are those that are your day to day support staff like admins and operation team leaders. You want more time. You want more freedom. They are your first line of defense and who will provide just that. And then some like taking over for you while you're on that exotic vacation in Tulum drinking tequila or a cool club soda with lime.

Yum, yum, yum. Start small. It's also about mentorship and giving your staff room to find their own way. I want you to think of yourself more as a coach here. Begin with low risk tasks to assess an employee's capabilities, focusing [00:07:00] on emotional intelligence and intuition. Assign tasks that, if not completed perfectly, won't pose a significant risk to the business.

Remember. to look at the tasks through their eyes, not your eyes. So based on what you know about Sally, is she going to be a nervous wreck because you asked her to call a client, which is something you can do in your sleep with these, but causes her to break out in hives because she has zero social skills or confidence. Don't set your staff up to fail. 

Another real key to a great process for trust in delegation is consistent communication.

 When it comes to communication, you need to be consistent when you're delegating and you're trying to gain trust. Always encourage two way feedback. So I like to conduct a pre task meeting to discuss the expectations and the why behind it. You know, this is what I'm asking you to do. This is why it's important to me.

And here are some of the [00:08:00] pitfalls that I want to make sure you don't fall in while you're doing this thing. Also a post task review, like give constructive feedback, give them super. Awesome praise when they're doing stellar or they're in alignment with your intuition and be very direct and to the point if they are missing the mark and the why.

, it helps to identify any gaps in skills or knowledge and offers opportunity for improvement. So, um, Set up a consistent touch base, depending on how seasoned the person is or how long they work for you. It could literally be if someone's new and just started with you and you really don't have a baseline on what they can do.

I like to onboard people and literally every day I'm giving them a call. And I know that sounds very tedious, but trust me, it is the best use of five minutes a day that you could possibly have. You're checking in with them. You're making sure that they're feeling confident in the tasks that you're asking them to do.

You're getting a gauge on like how long it's taking them to complete the things as well. [00:09:00] And also you're eliminating the stuck in the mud, you know, spinning wheels because they're, they're, they want to do such a good job for you. They have paralysis analysis and they're just making it just hard, too hard, right?

 You will gain a quicker sense of how close your staffing is to the delegation target you gave them and can assess if you can delegate more. Like you might find out that, Oh my God, like that was super easy and I can give them 10 more things. This is great.

Like delegate, delegate, delegate. You might say, okay, uh, We got to wheel back the reins a bit and break the delegated actions down into more micro steps. So if you had one step, maybe break it down into two steps so that they can meet it halfway. Yay. They made it. Let's go home and finish the rest of the task.

As an employee demonstrates reliability, you can gradually increase their responsibilities because you both are gaining one another's trust, right? Trust in delegation. I also want to take this time [00:10:00] to address a very important point. I have made the mistake in the past of liking a person and allowing them to be in a role. They quite frankly were not skilled at doing just because someone is great and can hold a conversation does not necessarily mean that they are the type of leader that you need in the role that you need to trust for delegation, right? So don't make that mistake. If you have clear SOPs and KPIs and are honest but respectful in your feedback, you can truly avoid a lot of angst and wasted time for yourself and that person.

If the person is a good worker, you can always try to find another seat for them to sit at the table, maybe better suited for their gifts. But again, I don't want you creating positions because you like them. I want you to say, you know what? Susie, she really wanted to be a project management, but my gosh, she's so good at marketing, and she's really good with people [00:11:00] actually putting her in a business development role is better suited for her skills.

And I need that. Okay. That's different than just creating a position just because you can, you like her, that doesn't serve you or her, but if no seats are a good fit. Fit be honest part ways, help find them a job. If that makes you feel good about yourself elsewhere, but seriously do not waste their time or yours. Huge, huge, huge, huge business hack. 

Another trick I like to do when I am bridging trust in delegation is. I like to link staff to projects with clients I have strong relationships with. So I'll call the client and I'll say, Hey, Timmy's new to the project management role. I'm going to coach him and guide him closely. But I ask that you call or text me if you seem to think he's tilting a little sideways or going off track in his role. Trust me. Your client also likely has staffing and reports that they're going to want to [00:12:00] use you to kind of mentor as well. Right? So you're kind of creating this little safety net for both of you.

It's a zipper effect between staffing and leadership. It also encourages mentorship and growth and allows the employees to learn from their experience without critical consequences to your business. So You can get behind the scenes feedback. You also have another purview because let's face it when it comes to your clients, it doesn't really matter what you think, right?

It matters what the client experience is and how they perceive your business being. So you do want to make sure you're touching base and getting clear direction from them on how they feel the experience is and praising that employee for the really, really good stuff. Um, and I love doing that in front of team meetings and then also pulling them aside and having one on ones and talking about things that might not be going so well for those action steps.

So you've got consistent communication. You have a great process. You're bridging and building [00:13:00] trust between that individual employee and yourself. You're really understanding what makes them tick. You really know what you can give them and, and things that, Oh, might be a little more of. A boundary that you have to look for.

Lastly, we want to round it out with continuous improvement. So as you delegate and thrive in your business, so will your processes. Utilize an internal checklist to identify and fill gaps in the process. I like to do this in a weekly ops meeting. It's good to share lessons learned as well as allowing them to run the meetings, learn from one another, find their swag and style, become their authentic selves.

You know, your way of doing things is not the only way of doing things. And sometimes that might be hard to hear as a leader because, well, you know, you're successful in your own right. Right. Really to make it organic, to make it really earthy and meaty and have your Folks invested and dive [00:14:00] in allowing them to put their own personal spin on things.

It's just natural for them. It's not putting them in certain spots or pigeonholing them into processes. Like, yes, you're giving them the roadmap and the guidance, but allowing them to have that little float for their style back and forth, I think is really real important as a leader. I think the client sense it.

I think they really can tell if. People are, true to themselves or they being a robot and just repeating a script. Like you don't want that. I mean, we all know being authentic is the best way for business. Everybody can, can sense it when it's bullshit or if it's just, you know, scripted, you want people to understand it.

You want them to articulate it in a way that's comfortable for them, but you also want it to be easy, right? Trust and delegation.

All right. So to sum up takeaways. So one set a solid foundation. . It starts with you as the leader, clear workflows, [00:15:00] very clear roles and responsibilities, KPIs.

What are you expecting from each employee and what are you expecting for the deliverable of the tasks that you are giving them? Be very, very clear in your directions, right? Review risk management. Start small. Minimize the risk to the business. When you are bridging and learning trust with delegation, start small.

Don't give them a whole enchilada. You'll just be up all night worrying about it, right? Just give them a small little micro action and it allows you to build trust with them and them to build and earn your trust, right? , consistent communication. You have to consistently check in at least in the beginning until you're really solid, especially with your ops team.

Those are the people that are your ride or dies, right? They're the ones that are going to protect you from everything. And so the sooner that you can become in alignment with them with emotional intelligence and intuition, the more that you can delegate, the more that is less you [00:16:00] doing .

You don't want to be doing the business. You want to be coaching in the business. And then finally, continuous improvement, having intentional meetings and talking about the processes and saying, okay, is this still serving us? This is the right thing for the business and how your ops team can start.

Bridging trust and delegation to their direct reports, right? It's a zipper effect, but it starts with you. I hope you guys found this episode helpful and I'll talk to you soon.