Are you a business hoarder?
Everyone knows a hoarder. They keep every little knick-knack that carries even an ounce of sentimental value. They are afraid to throw out, sell, or give anything away. Their garages, attics and living rooms are full of stuff that might have been valuable at one time but is now just taking up space. They feel that everything has value and one day they might need that thing they’ve been storing for five years. The collection of stuff makes it difficult to move around and it gets in the way of the important functions of the home.
Below are 4 signs you might be a hoarder. Have you said or thought:
1. This will only take me a minute
2. I tried delegating and they just don’t get it
3. No one else understands how to do it right
This is the close cousin to sign #2. However, this is more about your security blanket. Your security blanket is a task or project that you successfully completed in your hay-day, and you’ve kept it close to you. It makes you feel valued because you can do it well. It’s easy for you. It’s comfortable and snuggly and has the familiar smell of success. Well, it might be time to donate that security blanket to someone else who could benefit from it.
4. It will take too long to teach someone else
I get it; you need things done now and you don’t have time to explain the context of the task: who, what, when, where, and most importantly, why. Unfortunately, this is short-sighted and limits your ability to delegate. Those knick-knacks are starting to pile up…
Ok, I might be a hoarder. So what?
If you’re hoarding ownership of all responsibilities in your business, it will undoubtedly have a negative impact on your productivity and your team’s. Business hoarding will get in the way of your most critical functions, take up your time, and undermine the structure of your company. At worst, hoarding ownership threatens the structure of your leadership house. The cost of hoarding the business knick-knacks is huge. Think about your goals and vision. Whether your leadership house is built to grow the business, or so that you can spend more time with your family, you can’t possibly clear your house for its bigger purpose if it’s full of administrative knick-knacks.
So what’s a hoarder to do?
Delegation is difficult when the purposes are unclear or workflows are micromanaged. Refer to my previous blog post Get Out of the Outhouse! to determine if you have an admin stuck in the crapper. When you attempt to delegate to them, they don’t complete the task quite right because you’re dumping too many unrelated or poorly explained tasks on them. On the other hand, if you’re micromanaging your admins instead of giving them authority within their admin house, it leads to disengaged admins and frustrated leaders. These are messy and frustrating situations.
But there is an easier way.
When your admins have complete clarity on their workflows and purpose, delegation is simple. The right A-Players do not require micromanagement. Most high performing admins sincerely want to help. You just need to provide the framework in which they can operate with clear purpose and authority. When you have the right person for the job and clarity on their role, delegation is simply part of the process.
If you haven’t done it yet, download Chapter One of Buried in Business to learn the basics of the Adminnovate Model to help delegation become a natural part of your business structure.
