Whether you outsource or enlist the aid of family or co-workers – it’s time to delegate.
We all know the importance of a good schedule and routines,
in fact we talked about that in our last blog.
A large part of having a smoothly running household or business is in having established clearly defined goals, assigning tasks and following a regular schedule. But how does one accomplish all of this? It certainly isn’t by piling more work on the busy professional Mom trying to run a home, a business or both - or by asking the boss at work to do it all!
Delegating duties are the key to success at home and in the workplace too.
Delegating can be difficult:
Some people really struggle with the idea of delegating. Perhaps you are a perfectionist and want things done “a certain way.” It can be hard to delegate tasks when you’re certain you can do everything better but that’s not how employees learn or children grow. As the old saying goes; “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” In other words, it’s far better to teach someone to fish, providing lifelong skills that will enable their personal success and growth and the good news is, it’s helping you get tasks done!
Delegating involves some teaching time:
The key to delegating, is seizing on the teachable moments. As the previous quote suggests, successfully delegating tasks might first require you to spend some time teaching those tasks. At work this is of course referred to as training while at home it might be called a learning opportunity. Matching the task to the skill level of the person doing it is another important component of delegating successfully. Delegating at work is easier, presumably you’ve hired employees with the skills required to do the work even if you have to invest in some upfront training time. Delegating at home is a tad more challenging
Helpful tips:
Make sure the task is age appropriate.
At dinner time even the youngest family members can help set the table, pre-teens can help prepare by chopping vegetables or peeling potatoes or stirring the risotto. Teens who’ve been helping in the kitchen from a young age are now familiar enough to prepare a simple meal for the whole family.
Helpful hint: meal planning in advance of grocery shopping helps to ensure all the ingredients are at hand!
Delegate the housework AND the timeframe you expect it to be completed.
Too often we ask a family member to do something with an expectation it be done immediately. The problem, other people (especially teens) have their own schedule! So – delegating household tasks should also have a timeframe attached to it. Just like in the kitchen, kids of any age can help. Small children can sort laundry according to colours, darks and whites and clean up their own toys. Pre-teens and teens should be taught how to do the laundry and everyone can carry their own dinner plates back to the kitchen and load the dishwasher. You might prefer to wash the floors yourself but they can easily be swept first by a younger family member. These are just a few examples.
Negotiation skills are crucial!
Whether at home or at work, your negotiation skills are an important part of delegating. You might be surprised to learn (as I was!) that one child would willingly clean ALL the bathrooms in order to avoid doing ANY other housework!
Delegate to us!
We would be remiss if we didn’t briefly share how thE Concierge can help both busy professionals at the office and busy professionals at home. We exist for the sole purpose of enabling you to delegate the tasks you don’t have time for, or would rather outsource to us, so you can spend more time at home with the family.
Here’s just a short list of what we can do for you
but check out our website for many more!
Grocery shop. Particularly in these pandemic times, everything takes longer and involves line-ups. Let us do the lining up, pick up your groceries and even your prescriptions too.
Office supplies. We can help you organize the office, putting systems in place that will support your success for years to come and we’ll set you up with all you need to stay organized by sourcing and shopping for your office supplies.
Gift-shopping and Corporate “thank you’s.”
Staying on top of everyday tasks at the office or home is hard enough, adding in extra tasks like shopping and planning for a baby shower, sending flowers to the sick or bereaved and maintaining good client relationships by adding in the personal touch can be challenging. Let us do it for you!
Real estate agents – this is your time to shine, thanking a family for buying or selling a home using your services is a great way to boost your business. We can help!
We all know the importance of delegating and what better time than the start of a new year to foster new habits. Whether at home or in the office, delegate the tasks you simply don’t have time for so you can focus on the bigger picture – whether that’s specific business goals and targets or simply finding ways to spend more time with family. Either way, at thE Concierge, you might say “delegating” is our middle name! We can be an important part of your home or office team in 2021. Ask us how we can support your success!
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