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So I get a call from a new client who wants some help managing his time better. He is so swamped that he cant keep our initial phone meeting and, when we finally connect, keeps interrupting to put out fires. After I finished chuckling at the irony, I realized that similar problems plague many if not most business owners.
Imagine a ship. The captain stands on the bridge directing the ships course and speed and ensuring that its mission gets carried out. The first mate handles most of the administrative management, which includes much of the paperwork. Below them, the department heads handle their specific areas of the ship. The Engineering Officer manages the engines, generators, and other machinery while the Deck Officer manages things like lines and painting. Other officers handle their own individual areas of responsibility.
The captain never bothers with shoveling coal, changing oil, chipping paint, handling mooring lines, etc. Her or his job to see the ship safely from port to port and to be the final overseer of onboard operations. Period. The Engineering Officer never worries about chipping paint. You get the idea. Everyone has a function that serves the greater good and sticks to that function as much as possible.
How many of you are trying to steer the ship and shovel coal at the same time? How many of you want to grow your businesses but dread the extra hours of effort such expansion would entail?
The solution is simple: As the owner, you are the captain of your business. If youre a one-person show, you must indeed do everything yourself. But if you have partners and/or employees? At this point, careful delegation becomes a key requirement for growth.
How do you spend your time? There are four basic types of tasks:
Important and not urgent. Tasks in this category will have long-lasting implications for your business but dont need to be handled right away. This is where you should be spending about 50% of your time.
Important and urgent. These are the true emergencies that can impact your business and must be addressed post haste. Under ideal circumstances, things in this category will only happen rarely, if at all. Good time management and effective systems go a long way to keeping these occurrences to a minimum.
Not important and urgent. This category is usually what people are referring to when they speak of putting out fires. Think about the many fires youve extinguished in your career. In hindsight, how many of these incidents had real potential to impact your business? Probably not many. Here again, good systems go a long way to mitigating this category. If you have employees or partners, delegation can be especially powerful here because people can manage things in their own areas, often without having to bother you.
Not important and not urgent. If something will have no impact on your business and need not be addressed any time soon, just how much of your time and energy does it require?
Focus on guiding your company forward, on making the decisions that will have positive impacts on your business and your life. Delegate as much as possible of the rest to the appropriate people. Im not saying you need to abandon your responsibilities or simply dump work on others. I am saying that your ship needs you on the bridge and someone else minding the engines.
Start by getting out a sheet of paper and listing every single function your company performs. It may surprise you how little of what you do involves your companys specialty. For example, if you own a bakery, the actual baking comprises only a tiny fraction of the many things your company must do to survive and thrive. In fact, the baking itself is probably little more than an afterthought!
Armed with this list, your next step is to look at your people and decide who can best handle each item. Once youve done this, start handing off the chosen tasks to your chosen people. Do this and youll find yourself with a lot more time and energy on your hands, time that you can use to focus on growing your business. You may have to pay your people more to take on the added responsibilities, but the freedom you buy with that money will pay for itself many times over provided you invest that freedom wisely.
Imagine a ship. The captain stands on the bridge directing the ships course and speed and ensuring that its mission gets carried out. The first mate handles most of the administrative management, which includes much of the paperwork. Below them, the department heads handle their specific areas of the ship. The Engineering Officer manages the engines, generators, and other machinery while the Deck Officer manages things like lines and painting. Other officers handle their own individual areas of responsibility.
The captain never bothers with shoveling coal, changing oil, chipping paint, handling mooring lines, etc. Her or his job to see the ship safely from port to port and to be the final overseer of onboard operations. Period. The Engineering Officer never worries about chipping paint. You get the idea. Everyone has a function that serves the greater good and sticks to that function as much as possible.
How many of you are trying to steer the ship and shovel coal at the same time? How many of you want to grow your businesses but dread the extra hours of effort such expansion would entail?
The solution is simple: As the owner, you are the captain of your business. If youre a one-person show, you must indeed do everything yourself. But if you have partners and/or employees? At this point, careful delegation becomes a key requirement for growth.
How do you spend your time? There are four basic types of tasks:
Important and not urgent. Tasks in this category will have long-lasting implications for your business but dont need to be handled right away. This is where you should be spending about 50% of your time.
Important and urgent. These are the true emergencies that can impact your business and must be addressed post haste. Under ideal circumstances, things in this category will only happen rarely, if at all. Good time management and effective systems go a long way to keeping these occurrences to a minimum.
Not important and urgent. This category is usually what people are referring to when they speak of putting out fires. Think about the many fires youve extinguished in your career. In hindsight, how many of these incidents had real potential to impact your business? Probably not many. Here again, good systems go a long way to mitigating this category. If you have employees or partners, delegation can be especially powerful here because people can manage things in their own areas, often without having to bother you.
Not important and not urgent. If something will have no impact on your business and need not be addressed any time soon, just how much of your time and energy does it require?
Focus on guiding your company forward, on making the decisions that will have positive impacts on your business and your life. Delegate as much as possible of the rest to the appropriate people. Im not saying you need to abandon your responsibilities or simply dump work on others. I am saying that your ship needs you on the bridge and someone else minding the engines.
Start by getting out a sheet of paper and listing every single function your company performs. It may surprise you how little of what you do involves your companys specialty. For example, if you own a bakery, the actual baking comprises only a tiny fraction of the many things your company must do to survive and thrive. In fact, the baking itself is probably little more than an afterthought!
Armed with this list, your next step is to look at your people and decide who can best handle each item. Once youve done this, start handing off the chosen tasks to your chosen people. Do this and youll find yourself with a lot more time and energy on your hands, time that you can use to focus on growing your business. You may have to pay your people more to take on the added responsibilities, but the freedom you buy with that money will pay for itself many times over provided you invest that freedom wisely.