Pro Sulum today is all about business automation, systems, processes, and delegate better. Because I constantly work with a team of Virtual System Architects, one might think that I’m innately a master of the art of delegating tasks.
This is certainly not the case as it took me years to learn the lessons that have helped me become better at delegating tasks.
Today on The Freedom In Five Minutes Podcast, you will discover 3 powerful tips that will help you delegate better on any given work day easier, faster, and cheaper.
Listen in and unlock more money-making opportunities for your business! Only here on The Freedom In Five Minutes Podcast.
Overview & Episode Content
- Discovering the Need to Outsource & Delegate
- Dean’s Early Problem with Outsourcing
- If You Think You’re Good at Delegating, Think Again
- Delegate Tasks Effectively Through Clear Communication
- How Critical is Understanding Systems to Business Growth?
- The Importance of Getting Your Mind Wrapped Around Systems and Processes to Improve Your Delegation Skill
- Becoming Good at Delegation Require Humility and an Open Mind
- Learning Better Ways to Delegate
Discovering the Need to Outsource & Delegate
I took a course that taught me how to outsource. But prior to taking that course, I have already been outsourcing some work from places like Elance and oDesk. By the way, these two platforms are no longer around since they have merged to form UpWork.
The point is, I had already dabbled in delegating work that I wanted to get done in various websites for various little projects that I wanted to do. My business back then was more focused on IT and hardware.
I started off with working on home computers before moving on to fixing computers for business. From there, I grew my business and shifted my focus on doing websites — specifically WordPress websites.
And it was great because I was able to be at home and do all the work. But then, I got to a point in my business where Pro Sulum has become what it is today. I started working with a few clients and I came to a realization that I needed to figure out a way to delegate the huge load of tasks that I had.
The main problem was, I was the only person in my business at that time. So naturally, I was the sales guy. the marketer, the project manager, the customer service rep, and all of these other different hats I had to wear.
Dean’s Early Problem with Outsourcing
I thought it would be a good idea to delegate some of my work. So, I took a high-level course on outsourcing that specifically taught how to train employees so that when they are hired, they already have the training available and the employer is able to show them what needs to be done.
After going through the course, I hired my first person and she did a very good job! Her name was Ida and she was absolutely amazing. She helped me with a variety of administrative tasks. Having delegated the busywork freed me up to do stuff for my customer websites.
Eventually, I had her do affiliate marketing and a couple of other things. But when I hired a second and third person for the team, I found out that there was a big problem. I found out that I was not good at delegating.
It was painfully obvious because any time there was something that fell outside of the lines of the training that came with the course, I would not know what to do.
For example, I would tell my virtual assistants at the time “ I need you to go and research The top 10 website themes, give those to our clients, and ask them which one they would like to use for the website.”
Well, I thought I was very clear that I wanted the top 10 WordPress website themes. I thought I was extremely detailed in what I wanted them to do in the emails that I would send out or the voicemail messages or the videos. Instead, they would reach out to my client and it would be a disaster.
If You Think You’re Good at Delegating, Think Again
Sometimes, they’d have something that was different from what I have instructed.
For example, I might have thought I mentioned something like, “Go find WordPress websites.”
But instead, I just said, “Go find some website templates.”
I might just have assumed that they knew everything I knew about my business so there would be disaster after disaster after disaster.
So eventually, I hired a developer who is also an amazing designer. And I got lucky once again because I thought I was the king of delegating.
I found this person who understood what I was saying so I was able to go and create websites not just from templates but actually create custom websites for clients. And because of that, I could charge a lot more.
Back then, I was charging $4,000 – $5,000 sometimes up to $10,000 for a website and it was because of this awesome person. I would talk to the customer, I would make the sale, and then I would pass a customer off to my web developer who would pretty much handle everything.
Well, here I am once again. I'm like man “Gosh. I am so good at teaching my people how to do these things; I can delegate anything on a work day; I’m just absolutely amazing.”
So I hired two more developers over time and it sucked. I sucked because although I could give my first web developer clear instructions, I could not give the other guys the same instructions and have them go do it.
This type of thing happened over and over again throughout my career. For years! It wasn't until one thing changed that really allowed me to improve the way that I delegated tasks to my employees on the workday.
Delegate Tasks Effectively Through Clear Communication
After changing just one thing, I have improved the way I delegate tasks to my employees. The problem all that time was, I thought I was being clear with my instructions. Well, I found out that there were certain people who were able to get me right away and make decisions on their own.
I get lucky with hiring these types of people because they are very hard to find. Out of a hundred people, perhaps there would only be around five to ten who are exactly like that. So when I stumble upon these folks, I rely so much on a specific way of communicating. And I tend to forget to adjust the way I communicate with others.
At the end of the day, I simply did not have a good hiring practice and it’s paired with a not so good way of communicating the tasks that I wanted to get done.
So, why is pointing out all these things important? It is important because when you delegate tasks to your employees, children, or even to your spouse, It is crucial to be able to give and communicate effectively. They must understand what the end result is going to be and what each step is going to look like for that task.
How Critical is Understanding Systems to Business Growth?
The very first thing you need to understand — and this is something that I highly recommend — is understanding systems. Understanding systems is the most important and number one thing.
You need to understand the concept of systems and processes for your business. In fact, there is a good book out there called Work The System by Sam Carpenter. Go to WorkTheSystem.com and sign up for their email list to get a free copy. Now, I have no affiliation with them, but the book is a very good free resource.
Work The System is one of those books where I recommend to everybody. The reason is, it is a great ‘Aha!’ book that helps rewire your brain to start thinking in terms of systems and processes. You start seeing the world as a whole bunch of different processes that happen throughout the day.
Although it is a good resource, the way that they Implement and create their systems and processes is pretty archaic.. So, I say to everyone don’t do it that way. That is why we have our Virtual Systems Architects at ProSulum.com.
Something that takes you 10, sometimes even 20, hours to document — based on the book, Work The System — literally can take you 5 to 10 minutes with a Virtual Systems Architect at Pro Sulum.
There are other books out there like Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz. Built So Sell is a good book as well. These books are great because they help train your brain to see things around you like systems and processes.
The Importance of Getting Your Mind Wrapped Around Systems and Processes to Improve Your Delegation Skill
Why do we love our iPhone? We love our iPhone because all of the apps work. If all subsystems work correctly then the system, as a whole, is going to work perfectly. This is actually the same thing when you think of things like your car. If your brakes, lights, every little piece of the engine…if all of these little components work — then the car as a whole is going to work perfectly.
And so, getting your mind wrapped around systems unlocks greater processes for your business. Work on the little things in your business — for example, how to onboard customers, how to answer customer service emails, how to send proposals, how to do accounting and payroll?
It is amazing to see what my customers can do with a Virtual Systems Architect who is a completely blank slate. Led by the right client, our VSAs can do almost anything from bookkeeping, payroll, marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, to even copywriting.
Our VSAs are able to do all of these various things across all departments because everything is well-documented step-by-step and turned into processes. What looked like a skill at first, actually turned into a process. And that is why it is vital that a business owner must learn how to think in terms of systems and processes.
Becoming Good at Delegation Requires Humility and an Open Mind
The next tip I am going to share involves your ability to be humble. The thing is, if something is not understood when you delegate, then you are most likely the problem.
In Sun Tzu’s Art of War, one of the things that he says is that if orders are unclear, the first one to blame is always the commander. So, the next logical step would be to clarify your orders.
After you clarify your orders and it is still not followed, then harsh punishments need to be given — according to Sun Tzu. The thing is that most business owners readily put others to blame every time something does not go according to plan.
Most business owners readily say, “Well, it’s because they did not understand what I was saying.”
Well, you – the business owner – are most likely the problem. You must be open to the possibility that perhaps you, yourself, have made something unclear. This is especially true when you already have multiple employees fired for not seemingly understanding you.
If people can’t seem to “get” what you're saying, then there definitely is a problem. If the commonality between the people surrounding you is that they cannot seem to understand you, then the problem is most likely your way of communication.
And tip number three, have an open mind to learn how to communicate better. That’s a big thing here at Pro Sulum because we are always learning.
I build systems all the time. Systems, for me, is my lifeblood. Every day, I build systems in five minutes with my Virtual Systems Architects. I can easily hop on a video, show them how to do something, and a documented system is created; I never have to do that task again.
Learning Better Ways to Delegate
Even if I rarely repeat tasks that I have offloaded, I am always learning better ways to execute systems that are already in place. In fact, my five-person core team of Virtual Systems Architects are always giving me suggestions on new things that we can do for Pro Sulum.
One of the things that a lot of my clients get stuck on is that they are amazed at the very beginning that they can do a process video in ten minutes or less. And just like that, they have a process document and they never have to do that task ever again because their VSAs will do it for them.
They get amazed by that. After a while, however, they're like, “I don't want to create a video. I don't want to do that.”
It has been hard to deal with these clients at first. Eventually, we found a better way to help these types of clients.
We would tell them, “It’s been a good while since you had your VSA. Why don't you just try telling them how to do something? You could ask them to find a better way to do a task. And if they do find a better way, have them document it.”
Now that a task is completely documented, everyone else in the organization can do it.
The important thing is to remain open to suggestions and be open to learning how to do things better, faster, easier, and cheaper.
Conclusion
It is important that you are open to these tips. These lessons took me years to learn and they are absolutely important. It helped my ability to delegate tasks on a work day better than any other way I've seen anyone else do.
If you want to learn how to delegate better on a work day in a way that is cheaper, easier, faster, and actually helps you to make more money. Those three tips are absolutely huge.
Resources and Links
This Dean Soto. Go check out ProSulum.com or go check out FreedomInFiveMinutes.com and hop on a Discovery Call. We can see how your business is going, I can give tips, and see if a Virtual Systems Architect is right for you. But even if it's not, I’m always open to give you some great ideas. So all that being said, I will see you in the next Freedom In Five Minutes podcast episode.