Those of you that are nice enough to come through my blog on a daily basis or that subscribe to my rss feed here know that in addition to being one of those blogging ceos and a blogger that is open to guest posts I am also a multiple business owner. Every once in a while I like to post a few business tips for small business owners or for new managers looking for management tips, who knows maybe someone wild find the info helpful.
Prior to being a small business owner I spent my time in various management level positions with Home Depot. When I started at Home Depot I started as a “Lot Guy”, good old Department 96… the cart kid, by time I left Home Depot I had over 10 years of management experience, experience that I still use. People can say a lot of things about Home Depot, what I can say is that I was fortunate to work with some of the best managers ever and learned things that I honestly don’t believe I could have learned at any school. I’m no whiz kid, school was never my thing.
I won’t be teaching you anything spectacular today, if anything I’m giving you some advice especially if your a new manager in a retail business, I personally think it’s great advice for everyone. Take it as you may, here it is.
Do It, Delegate it or Dump It
Do It
If something comes across your desk or plate that you can knock off right at that very moment, DO IT. Don’t put it off to the side or shove it in your apron pocket like I use to do when I worked for the Depot back in the day. You would be amazed at just how much less will end up on a work list and how much more you will get done in a day, that goes with phone calls, EVERYTHING. If you can do it, DO IT.
Delegate It
If you plan on being a successful business manager your going to need to know how to delegate tasks to the associates that you work with, delegate it to the right person, follow up and your golden. Delegating tasks to associates does so many valuable things for you as a manager as well as for the business, even more important than both of those things delegating tasks to associates helps them grow and learn. Growing and learning are good things, don’t be afraid to delegate and you better be willing to follow up when you do or sooner or later no one will take your delegated tasks serious.
Dump It
Don’t let all of that crap that your dreaming of getting to pile up if you have no intention of doing it now or delegating it you might as well dump it, there’s no sense on cluttering your work space and mind with piles of stuff you know damn well your never going to go through. I know it’s hard, you can’t imagine letting go and you probably think I’ve lost my mind, I haven’t… if it’s that important to you DO IT NOW or DELEGATE IT RIGHT NOW, if not DUMP IT. When all is said and done not only will your desk be a little more visible, but your mind will be more clear which will lead to more fresh and creative ideas that you will actually put to use. Not to mention your productivity level will go up tremendously.
If your a new business manager or a new small business owner looking for small business tips or business blogging tips and you found this post somewhat useful please consider becoming a fan of my Facebook Fan Page or follow me on twitter, I actually connect with the people that socialize with me. My twitter username is @extremejohn btw.
Don’t forget to leave a comment with your thoughts on the “Do it, Delegate it or Dump it” concept.
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{ 33 comments… read them below or add one }
delegation was always the hardest thing for me. I always feel like I should be the one doing it all (mostly because I never trusted anyone to do it the way I wanted) but after years I finally learned exactly what you said: delegate to the RIGHT person and then follow up. Once they knew I’d follow up on them, the quality of work that was delegated went way up.
as far as my own to do list for my website…. i suck at dumping things. I keep things on my to do list for months hoping one day to have a moment to get to it. although the other day i did purge like 20 things!
Stiletto Sports Jen´s last blog ..17 Things I Already Miss About Football Season
@Stiletto Sports Jen, keep purging that down to a list of 10 “OBTAINABLE” things, consider them goals and slap them on the fridge. Give yourself 30 days to get them done, or 60, etc.
@Extreme John,
magnet city! but my Teux Deux list that you discovered is where i log all my lists to purge!
haha clearly you have never seen my fridge
Stiletto Sports Jen´s last blog ..17 Things I Already Miss About Football Season
@Stiletto Sports Jen, ahhhhhhhh magnet fridge. I hate anything on the fridge with the exception of a good test score from the kids or a self motivational piece
Amen to this post! Delegation is always tricky tho. Easiest to do if you’re very familiar with the process and substance of the delegated task. That way you can give very clear instruction and guidance. And when the first draft of the project is completed, you can focus your efforts on tying it into the big picture, and considering how the project is best improved.
Will@laser hair removal´s last blog ..Where On Your Body Can You Get Laser Hair Removal?
As I make my online business more serious the delegating, or subbing out part is becoming more important. I agree about the dumping part, I am terminating / selling a lot of projects I never get time to work on.
Forest´s last blog ..How To Avoid Going To The Supermarket
@Forest, that’s a great idea not to mention it gives you additional cash to put towards your main project expansion.
I never realized how delegation was so important to my line of work in the mortgage industry. Already this morning I’ve felt as if I’ve done the work of 10 loan officers!
Columbia Mo Mortgage´s last blog ..Feb 5 – Free Credit Report Websites Under Legal Fire
@Columbia Mo Mortgage, I believe it. When commenting in the future please us an actual username and use Keyword luv to target your keywords instead of your username being used as the target.
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Great tips I agree with all of them especially the do it tips. Why put off for tomorrow what you can do today! If more people would implement these tips on a daily basis there would be many more accomplished people out there thriving with there lives. A lot of people are just lazy in nature I am glad I am not one of them lol. Great pointers, thanks!
Earn Money Online´s last blog ..learn affiliate marketing What Is Affiliate Marketing Video?
Great tips! I’m a big fan of just DO IT! I can’t stand letting tasks pile up.
Matt@Atlanta Georgia Real Estate´s last blog ..Act NOW if you are a FHA Buyer!!
Delegating is hardest for me, but I do know how valuable a tool it is. When you take too much on and don’t allow others to help you can actually cripple your business. If no one else can do what you do and you’re not there one day the business suffers. At my former employer I was the only one who knew how to do payroll, including the tax deposits and ACH transfers. I finally made a manual [with screen-shots]. It was just too much pressure.
As far as dumping things, that’s good advice for life in general. Clutter is distracting and causes a lack of focus. If it’s not important let it go. Another thing I am consciously working to change.
Anne´s last blog ..More Snowy Shots From Ye Olde Homestead [A Photo Journal]
@Anne, I agree, a dirty desk makes for lowered performance levels. Clean the clutter people.
Awesome brother, I love the do it or dump it attitude, working on the trucks in my day job I’m pretty much by myself and on the site I don’t get to delagte that often lol, that said I do it or dump it and think it’s a great attitude to have!
TheInfoPreneur´s last blog ..Attract Positivity, Not Negativity
@TheInfoPreneur, it works well for you and I can see that attitude come through on your blog as well.
I like doing everything AT FIRST. Then I write a super detailed operations manual so anyone can do it. That way I can delegate it and feel good knowing that it will be done. When you read the E-Myth book you’ll see what I’m talking about.
@Anthony @ Jumpness, Do you find that people will follow your ops menu to the letter? I’ve always had a very difficult time training people by this method. One person described it to me as saying “hey, here’s a dictionary. now your vocabulary should be awesome!”
Will@laser hair removal´s last blog ..Laser Facials on Rachael Ray: She’s My Favorite Person Today!
@Will@laser hair removal, It really depends on the person you hire. They need to be passionate about something. The truth is the majority of the people will not work at my place forever. I’m in party rentals so the hard work is delivering them. The people tend to be younger or looking for extra cash. They really are not looking for a lifetime career. Each rental has a checklist that needs to be signed on the back. If they say it was done, but wasn’t it’s bad on their part. I’m really easy going and try to help employees reach their passion. They respect that and give respect in return. It’s a win win and I also think it’s the right thing to do. I tried summing it up as much as possible!
I am the number ONE offender when it comes to not dumping it.
I have so much crap that I won’t let go.
I do delegate fairly well and it does help everyone out.
Back to the clutter and letting go.
I need a personal assistant to take stuff and trash it when I’m not looking.
If its gone I will forget about it but I’m like a packrat and think I may have some use for certain items in the future.
Great post, thanks for the insite and
I will TRY TO DUMP IT
SafariDave´s last blog ..Paleolithic Era Dog
Great posts. Its so hard to delegate when being at the top as you’re mainly responsible for getting everything done. However, I think its important to do so as so much more is possible with delegation and encouraging everyone in the team to pull towards the same goal.
I totally agree with you, except on the first thing. I’m anti doing things right away. If something comes across my desk, it gets done based on priority. When I tried stopping and doing everything right away, I got nothing done.
Mike @DailyShotOfCoffee´s last blog ..Mocha Java From Community Coffee Review
@Mike @DailyShotOfCoffee, different strokes brudda. When I did that whole “Do it Now” post a while back I had never been so productive, keeping the pace was tough though, after a week of the “Do it right now” syndrome I was exhausted mentally and physically.
As for Do It, in essence if you follow this structure you are always Doing it. Delegating something immediately, is doing it, trashing something is doing it. Adding it to a massive list, not doing it. Think about it, youll see what I mean.
Back in the days when I was working in a bank, I remember my In-Out-Pending tray and how the Pending tray gets stuffed with paper while the Out tray is minimally filled. I guess, trays should be In-Out-Pending-Garbage. I think the office messenger will like it as he wouldn’t need to walk far to deliver anything from the garbage tray.
James Moralde´s last blog ..USB Switch Box: Multi-tasking Aid
I think Delegation is very critical in a management position. I have been in management at a grocery store for over 10 years. Without delegation skills I wouldn’t be where I am now.
You definitely have to drop the mentality that I can do it better myself. Once you reach top level management you don’t have time to do the physical work part of the job.
A good manager always has well trained employees which comes from delegating, and following up. My bosses always told me you have to inspect what you expect. If you just delegate out tasks, but never followup guess what happens?
Most will probably just mark the job completed even though it isn’t. Following up is the best time to show employees your expectations, and training them properly. If you never followup they will think they did a great job.
In management it is a Catch-22 in a way. It is your hard work that lands you an entry level management job, but to move up you have delegate, and not be a worker. Workers will always move up one or two management steps, but that is where their careers end. A manager who delegates sees endless opportunities to keep moving up in the company.
Delegation also makes your employees appreciate you more. They feel important, and appreciated that you are giving them added job responsibilities.
Delegation also prepares your lower level management for further advancement. The more employees that move up below you the better it makes you look as a manager.
Brian Inman´s last blog ..Putting Your Own Spin On Your Gaming Blog Articles
That’s really awesome advice. Very easy to remember. I need to do more dumping for sure.
Dave Doolin´s last blog ..10 Ways to Link to Comments – Keep the discussion rolling!
Delegating is something I need to work on. I need to have faith instead of saying, “Ah, I’ll do it.”
The Constant Complainer´s last blog ..Kids Having Kids
So in the online world, that would be DO IT – OUTSOURCE IT – DELETE IT!
Dennis Edell´s last blog ..Theme Construction Part 2 – What Should Go WITHIN The Blog? This Is The FUN Part!
Great tips John. I do as much as I can as fast as I can. Someday I may have people I can delegate work to when I can afford to pay them. :-)
The best productivity tool I use is Tomboy Notes. Instead of reading everything that interests me or adding links to posts throughout the day I save them in keyword searchable notes.
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I am constantly facing “Do it” or “Delegate it” at my day job being a lead and having many engineers who work for me. Unfortunately when projects are put on your lap I rarely get the opportunity to Dump it and face a near never ending queue of work piling up as usual.
Dragon Blogger´s last blog ..Work Out and Get Fit with Melt it Off!
I think these are some great pointers you through out. It’s great to hear a story like yours, for many who consider places like Depot as a “dead end job” you more then prove otherwise that with the right dedication and determination you can accomplish anything you put your mind to and use it to your full advantage to get to the top!
@JennD, I appreciate that Jenn. Ya know I can remember a time when I would tell people I worked for Home Depot and I felt proud, I felt proud because I probably really “got it”. However, not many people that I proudly said that to “got it”.
Now because Home Depot is massive everyone knows about it, and to work there or have worked there for an extended period of time is automatically respected.
I feel that very same thing now when people ask me what I do, those that don’t know will be like “Oh”. It’s like… “Oh???? Really OHHH?”, those people don’t “get it”.
That is a great philosphy. Myself, I need to get better at dumping things.
Hi, I have a problem that is kind of the reverse of many of the problems on here. I run a small but very business – we’re doing quite well and I have a team of 15 really good staff. However, I think I may have been delegating too well. So well, that I don’t actually have much work to do myself anymore. I know this probably sounds a bit ridiculous and I probably sound ungrateful but what am I supposed to actually do now. Everything is organised, including finance, wages, marketing, recruitment, training, IT, staff development, new business / markets. I probably have about 10 hours of stuff a week that I actually need to do. This is all very nice but I do like to be in the office for most of the week but I don’t like sitting around doing nothing plus it’s probably best for everyone else if they think I’m busy helping the business. Any suggestions?