Complete Delegation

How do you feel when you hear the word DELEGATION?

Does it make you chest tighten? Did you clench your hands just a little?

I bet that many of you thought to yourself, “yes, that’s all well and good for small tasks and admin tasks, but there are just some tasks that only I can do. Plus, it’s just so much easier if I do it myself!”

Is it? Is it really?

I’m sure I felt the same way too, but that was until I read Jack Canfield’s The Success Principles and was introduced to the concept of Complete Delegation.

The premise of Complete Delegation is to Delegate Something Once & Completely.

This means that instead of having to go through the delegation process, then checking and double checking, every time you go to delegate something, you simply delegate it once, knowing that the job will get done. Plus, the person undertaking the task from you knows that they can always ask you a question.

Complete Delegation Examples

Jack Canfield uses the example of grocery shopping. When his niece lived with them they arranged that she could have use of their car if she did the groceries for them every week. Jack’s wife prepared a list of staples that they wanted in the house at all times. Her job was to check them and restock them, as well as purchasing any additional items as they requested. Simple, huh!

We use this concept in our business too. In fact, we do just this for our clients when we do their grocery shopping. Some clients just send through a list each week and we purchase the groceries, before delivering and unpacking. Yet other clients take the concept of complete delegation one step further and have us check their pantry and fridge for them, checking off items against a standard list of requirements. They then return to a fully stocked kitchen!

I realise that these are straightforward examples, but they are perfect to explain the complete delegation concept.

The success of complete delegation depends on two things:

1. The choice of person to delegate to – Don’t set yourself up for failure, or sabotage your efforts simply so you can prove to yourself (and others perhaps) that you are in fact the only one that can do it.
2. The way you train them and provide instructions – Take the time to delegate properly. The time invested now will reap rewards long after you have delegated the task. If you have to prepare a written document, undertake multiple training sessions, or have a few trial runs, do it!

Remember, you didn’t always know how to undertake the particular task you are looking to delegate. You had to learn it too. Are you that much smarter than everyone else that you are really the only one who could do it?

Just imagine how much easier your day will be once this task is off your plate. Isn’t the investment in complete delegation worth it?

What 1 task, if you completely delegated, would make a real difference to how you are able to manage your time and how you feel about your day? Now, delegate!