Work smarter, not harder…
Great idea, right? But how do you get your entire team to do this?
Let’s start with the art of “DELEGATING.”
If you want to truly work smarter instead of harder, and move your business forward, you have to know your own strengths, the strengths of each teammate, and play to those strengths.
A profitable business relies on its people, and the best way to get the best out of everyone is to think about what people COULD be doing instead of just what they SHOULD be doing.
Work smarter vs work harder – what’s the difference?
When people are doing what they should be doing, they are stuck in a little box of their job description.
For example. A receptionist answers the phone, greets customers and does some minor administrative work. An agent shows properties, etc.
But do rigid job descriptions always play to people’s strengths? No.
When people are doing what they could be doing, the lines between job descriptions become a little blurred, and may even change.
Know Your Strengths
Before you start delegating, you need to know people’s strengths. You may know a few of a person’s strengths – the reason you hired them in the first place – but it will benefit your organisation if you understand what really makes them come alive in the workplace.
Here’s a handy template you can use to determine what people should be doing (what they’re good at) and could be doing (what they love). And then find a way to marry the two as much as practical.
If you present someone with a list of all the tasks within your organisation – not just what’s in their job description – you can get a better idea of a person’s strengths, preferences, and where they would be happiest as well as most efficient and effective.
Evaluating Your Team
Begin with yourself and then perform this evaluation within your entire team.
Most people, it may surprise you, do not know what they are naturally good at. Either they lack confidence, don’t have enough experience to know if they’re good at something, or they have been conditioned that a task they enjoy isn’t what they ‘should’ be doing.
- What am I not good at that I don’t like?
- What do I dread doing?
- What do I procrastinate on?
- What never seems to get easier?
- What makes me feel anxious?
- What makes me feel inadequate?
Any task that is not crossed off could be worth exploring as a possible area of interest or expertise.
Once you identify what you are not good at and don’t like doing, start lighting the spark of interest, passion and talent:
- What do I love doing?
- What is easy for me?
- What do I look forward to doing?
- What do others say I do well?
- What tasks make me feel good?
Narrowing The Focus
Now that you know what you like and don’t like, let’s narrow the focus so that you work to your strengths in your business:
- What am I good at that I don’t like? You may do something really well but if it causes you stress just thinking about it, it’s best if someone else does it. Ideally, you want to do what you are good at and like – and while that’s usually not possible all the time, then minimise the tasks you don’t like doing.
- What am I good at and like but someone else should be doing it? As a manager or business owner, are you doing $10/hour tasks when you should be doing $100/hour tasks? If it’s hard for you to let these go, just think about how much faster you’ll achieve your goals if you focus on the $100/hour tasks!
- What am I good at, love to do, and drives the business forward? This is the ideal: to have you and each of your teammates spending 80% of their time on what they’re good at and what they like. You will find that by so doing, they’ll be happier, more engaged, more efficient, and more effective.
Work Smarter, Win Together
Once you know people’s strengths and preferences, you can create a winning team of people with complementary talents. Some people really shine when they do what others consider mundane repetitive tasks; others like coordinating things and managing the daily operations. Some are highly social extroverts who do best spending their time with customers.
When you get people to do more of what they are naturally good at, you work with people’s strengths, not against their natural talents and preferences. You’ll quickly discover that people are highly engaged and productive when they do what they love and love what they do.
Key success point: don’t expect to have a team of all-rounders. You can’t expect a fish to be able to climb a tree, so don’t waste time trying to turn weaknesses into strengths.
Instead, work smarter by managing everyone’s weaknesses (including your own). Delegate and make sure that 80% of the time, people are doing what they’re good at and what they like!