What should you delegate?

In this issue:

• How to decide what to delegate

• Start-stop-keep: delegating edition

• Important dates and reminders

• Things I’m monitoring

• Your questions answered

• More credit card transaction control (and a cost)

• Trend alert: IRL friendships are back, baby

Delegating sounds great… on paper. 

You hand-off work you shouldn’t be doing to someone else, so you can focus on the high-impact priorities in your business you actually enjoy. 

Hooray, everyone wins! 

Unfortunately, it’s not always easy to resist our primal founder instincts of holding onto absolutely everything -- if something’s going to get done “correctly,” we have to do it ourselves, right?

But like I said last month, we can’t control everything. (And just like last month, I still hate it, too.)

Sometimes we learn this the hard way: things start falling through the cracks, you catch yourself saying “I don’t want to do this” more and more about certain tasks, or you experience one of those fun moments when a client “politely” asks:

“Hey, uh, have you thought about getting an assistant?”

No matter how you got here, if you’re finally ready to embrace delegation with at least somewhat open arms, I salute you.

You’ve decided you’re not going to be an island-of-one doing every single thing inside your business forever -- that’s a big deal. 

Of course, now you’ve got a new question in front of you:

How do you decide what tasks you should delegate?

That’s what we’re going to unpack in this issue.

(By the way, if you’re thinking to yourself, “Wait, I don’t even know who to delegate my work to,” good news -- I’m going to talk about that in a future issue.)

When I work with clients who need help deciding what to delegate, this is where we start.

If a task checks all three of these boxes:

• You don't have to be the one to do it.

• You don’t even really like doing it.

• Someone else can do it for you.

… you should probably delegate it.

Scheduling meetings, filing out paperwork, running errands, checking boxes on admin work, some operations tasks, and bookkeeping are good examples. Often, these involve standardized, repeatable processes, which are much easier to outsource. (For instance, bookkeeping has standards and rules, and you’re largely going to do the same thing every month.) 

Plus, more standardized tasks can be handled by a virtual assistant, accountant, or another specialist who are generally in good supply and have a standard range of rates. There is help for every budget, even if just a few hours a month.

Now, what you choose to delegate will be relative to you. 

For example, I hate managing email, so that was one of the first things I delegated. But most people I know hold onto their email tighter than Rose gripped that Titanic door. (Sorry, Jack. Wisconsin will always remember.) 

On the other hand, despite many offers, I have not delegated travel booking because I love playing the points/cards/miles game. Maybe I’d give it up before I let the love of my life drown. (I’ll save that one for a future reality TV newsletter edition.) 

Delegation is a true “choose your own adventure.” Others will have suggestions, but ultimately, you decide what stays and what goes. 

Whatever you decide, your goal here is simple: find other people to do the stuff that will free you up to be really efficient at what you’re good at and like doing (at least most of the time). 

Over time, you should plan to revisit what it is you do and don’t do inside your company.

For example, once you’ve got all your “I don’t want to do this, I don’t need to do this” stuff handled by someone else, the next step up the delegation ladder is evaluating what needs to be delegated away from your role, including things you’re good at or enjoy.

You may reach a point where you need to look beyond delegating transactional work. You may need to hire specialists who can scale what you can deliver. Heck, a few years from now, you might realize you need to hire strategic leaders to own the core functions of your business, rather than trying to do it all yourself. 

For some of you, that may be an exciting thought. 

But for the rest of you, don’t worry -- that is not a problem for today-you to solve.

Today-you only needs to take those first steps toward not being an island-of-one. 

Remember, your only goal with delegation right now is:

“I want to make myself a more efficient executive.”

To achieve that, regularly audit your contributions by asking:

“What does the business need overall, and what does the business need from me specifically?”

Not everything may be a good use of your time, even if it’s still good for the business..

So, if the business needs something, but not specifically from you, move it off your plate. 

Then, just take it one day at a time.

That was a lot, so let’s make your next steps easy:

• START small. Look at your to-do list for today. Is there anything on it that (a) you don’t have to do, (b) you don’t like doing it, and (c) someone else can do it? Write down the obvious ones and pick one to delegate to someone else now.
  

• STOP holding onto tasks because you’re convinced you’re the only person who can do them “right.” I understand the urge, but that’s how work starts falling through the cracks. Your growth will come from documenting repeatable standards and procedures, not from finding the perfect human.
  

• KEEP revisiting what belongs on your plate by asking: “What does the business need overall, and what does it need from me?” If the business needs it but not from you, assign it to someone else.

Have more questions? Book a free 20-minute strategy session.

Last week to wrap up the tiny tax forms!

• February 2: Filing deadline for 1099s and W-2s

  • RESOURCE: What you need to know about 1099s

  • RESOURCE: What’s changed with W-2s for this year

  • In most states, the filing date and delivery date are now the same. 

• February 16: Presidents Day federal holiday

• Tariff on, tariff off: So the 10% tariffs on goods from eight of the largest NATO allies are off. It might be a new record, just 48 hours from Truth to TACO. This week, we’re baaaack with an incremental 10% tariff on South Korean cars, lumber, and pharmaceuticals, bringing their total tariff to 25%, and a threat of a 100% blanket tariff on Canada if it implements a newly-signed trade deal with China. No dates on when these would go into effect, just lots of all-caps posting at world leaders. Maybe next week, we can chase them through the parking lot in skeleton costumes. 

• General strike: After a stock market dip made Trump back off his NATO threats, more voices are calling for collective action in the form of a sustained, general reduction in consumer spending. The idea is that households would reduce their spending by 2-10% over a 45-60 day period. The dip in sales would be enough to make public companies miss their quarterly forecasts, which negatively impacts their stock prices. It would also force the government to announce negative GDP growth. Small businesses would be exempted, but a hit to Fortune 1000 companies will undoubtedly impact us, too. Better than the fall of democracy, and worth factoring into your strategic planning.

• Supreme Court ruling on tariffs: any day now. Or June. No big whup.

ICYMI, here are resources you should know about:

• Is your business going through a rough patch, or is it failing? Good news: there are steps you can take to see what’s really going on in your business and get back on track.

• Is your team entitled to paid time off? Just like most things in America, it depends. (“It depends,” is my least favorite answer, too.)

Here’s another way things may get more expensive. To credit card or not to credit card? A new settlement (designed to end a dispute between merchants and credit card companies about swipe fees) has some big consumer implications. On the one hand, for your business, credit cards could become more attractive with more choices on whether you accept different tiers of credit cards. (American Express and awards cards can have higher processing costs.) You may also be able to charge extra fees, depending on the card a customer uses. On the other hand, as if inflation and tariffs aren’t enough, you’ll be subject to paying those fees (or not having certain cards accepted) when you put your own private consumer hat on.

Young adults have decided “offline is the new luxury.” Now for some good news. After years of battling crippling phone addictions, as well as the lingering aftereffects of COVID-induced social isolation, Zillennials are now seeking out analog social experiences in a big way. Friendship apps are booming in popularity, as are startups designed to help people find in-person communities and events. Honestly, I think a little more IRL would do us all some good. Plus, my team put “Jill IRL” on the plan… do you have an in-person event I should join? Let me know!