Take a few moments and imagine what your practice and professional life would be like if you could focus only on high-level tasks. Would your work day feel different? What would your bottom line look like if you could focus exclusively on your highest revenue-generating tasks?

Rather than being the stuff of mere daydreams, that vision can become a reality (or at least, your reality can move closer to that vision!) with the right strategic adjustments to your overall organizational structure. The most important step is to create an efficient system for delegating tasks you don’t need to touch.

I have many clients who are very successful, but still have room for improvement in this area. For example, I have a client who consistently nets seven figures, although to achieve that level of prosperity he frequently works late into the evening. If you have the desire or goal to maintain balance between your professional and personal realms, one of the crucial pieces to have in place is a well-trained, solid team to whom you can delegate consistently, swiftly, and efficiently.

How to Start

First, look for what you know you should not be touching and wish you could start delegating today. To help you expand this list, consider how you spend your time outside of meeting with clients, prospects and professional referral sources. This will help you put together the job responsibilities of the person you might need to bring on board next.

For example, answering phones, booking and rescheduling appointments, and managing the office should be delegated to an administrative staff person. Handling client requests and client operations should be delegated to a client services team member. For some (though not all) financial services professionals, investment strategy is something else that is appealing to delegate.

It may be clear to you that you need an additional person (whether it be a full or part time employee) if you have enough of a gap in certain areas where you can delegate, or on the other hand, you might be able to delegate more than you think to your existing team members. Another option is to delegate special projects to consultants when needed.

What Holds Some People Back From Delegating

Let’s be honest – most front runners get to be as successful as they are because they know exactly how things should be done, and won’t settle for anything less than perfection. While I can certainly appreciate that, it’s still possible to maintain high expectations by hiring someone who is qualified to deliver in exactly the way you want to reflect the level of client service you desire.

Holding tight control and refusing to delegate low-level tasks ultimately handicaps an advisor, and can impede the overall growth of an organization. I often hear resistance to delegating due to fear that someone else will not be able to handle the responsibilities or deliver in a desirable way. Fortunately, this can be resolved through management and proper training from the beginning. (Of course there will be a training period required – not just giving a new staff member a list of tasks, but circling back, answering questions, and ultimately maintaining responsibility for training to be implemented in the way you want.)

Another reason behind resistance to delegating is not wanting to spend additional time or money on training and hiring additional staff, especially to hand off something they feel they already do well. To that, I often ask: “what’s the value of your time compared to what you would pay someone to cover the lower level tasks?” By holding onto tasks you don’t need to be touching, your ability to grow or have more time off, etc, is limited. Done properly, delegating low level tasks frees you up for more high value work, and should ultimately make your business more profitable and support you in your intent to live a more balanced life.

Where in your practice would it be a breakthrough to not only be caught up, but be ahead of the game?

Do you spend your valuable time on marketing tasks that you could easily delegate? This might include writing your email newsletter, crafting content for and managing your own website, or getting bogged down by planning client events. These tasks can be easily delegated to someone already on your team, or someone you choose to bring in for sole purpose of managing these.

Are you cleaning your own office, or making trips to buy supplies? Do you have a backlog of operational tasks which, let’s be honest, you might never have the time for? Administrative tasks are another common time suck, but are often relatively simple to delegate to another staff member.

If you’re feeling excited and ready to delegate some of your tasks but aren’t sure how to take the first steps, I can help. I’ll help you first determine what makes sense to delegate and the criteria you’re looking for in someone to handle these details, and help you map out the best system for making the most of your time, as well as your staff’s time. Have questions? I would love to speak with you. Email me today: susan@susandanzig.com