Can Efficiency Be Taught?
2 September 2015I was having a conversation with my 90-year old aunt about delegation, task management and managing staff – she’d had many years of running teams and offices. She said: ‘Efficiency is a life-long discipline, and not everyone has it or can learn it. Some people are naturally efficient and disciplined. Others are not – they […]
Timely Tip for Parents
19 August 2015I truly believe that bringing up children is one of the toughest assignments there is – and one of the most important. It’s not for those who crave instant gratification – you sign up for the long haul and there’s no sending the squalling, dirty, and often unappreciative merchandise back. And as for time management […]
How To Save Money While Training The Kids!
24 April 2013It was a sunny Monday morning, May 1998. Kate and I were planning our next client newsletter. She was one of my two part-time assistants and the one who assisted with marketing activities. She turned to me and said: ‘Robyn, you’re wasting money with our newsletter.’ I looked at her in alarm. After all, everyone […]
Who To Delegate To, Even When You’ve Got No-One
4 April 2013The comments to my last article about delegation hit the nail very firmly on the head. One reader said: ‘The biggest problem with this scenario is that before you can delegate you need to have someone to delegate to.’ And this was answered very well by: ‘The step to employing someone is the hardest step […]
To improve – inspect: the four keys to great delegation
21 March 2013Even in small businesses, great delegation is a vital skill for any business person who wants to expand or increase turnover. However, the problem is, very few have formal training in it. Many folk lurch along, doing their best, often overwhelmed by their own work as well as the needs of their people, trying not […]
But It’s Quicker To Do It Myself! The Four Stages Of Delegation
4 February 2013Getting work done through others is the fastest way to increase productivity. However, many struggle with the ‘how’. One of the biggest complaints you’ll probably hear when people talk about their staff is ‘it’s quicker to do it myself’. And that’s true. However, if we don’t work out how to get past that stage we’ll […]
Who to Delegate to, Even When You’ve Got No-One
Have you ever said to yourself, in some frustration: ‘There’s just too much to do, but I’ve got no-one to pass it to’ Or: ‘I wish I could afford some more help. I’ll hire someone when I make a bit more money.’ If so, perhaps there’s a way round your dilemma. A few years ago […]
As Quickly As You Can Afford It, Delegate. Your Business Won’t Grow Until You Do
Not sure what you can delegate? Don’t know if you can afford it? Try writing down a list of all the regular tasks you do in a week, and estimate the amount of time spent on each activity. Now, pretend you’re paying someone a wage relative to each task, and put a dollar value beside […]
But I TOLD You…..! – Keys to Effective Delegation
Good delegation is a major challenge for most people: poor delegation is a major time waster. It doesn’t come naturally – we have to learn it, just as good leadership doesn’t come naturally to most of us. We grow up with a bias to action, and to be good delegators we have to learn to […]
Have You Got a Minute?…
Delegation or the lack of it can make or break a business. I do regular surveys with managers and owners in large and small businesses, and most of them consider themselves poor delegators. Senior people make themselves too available. Interruptions (many of them unnecessary) plague most people in business, and most bosses are no exception. […]