August 26, 2013 at 19:02Delegation
Hello dear community. In a previous post, I talked about the problem and the solution of technical debts in a web studio. Now, I propose to consider another, no less interesting phenomenon in this wonderful business. Namely, the issue of studio growth and delegation. I would like to remind you before the beginning of the story that this material is unlikely to be interesting to seasoned sharks of business and grated conversions, it is aimed at those who have recently been in this area, or those who have buried themselves in a glass ceiling.
So, we will consider everything as the simplest task (the conditions of the task are shamelessly stealing from my own post).
In stock:
1. A ready-made business that is not shaky and not faltering, but it works. (Under the concept of working, it implies functioning, and we, for now, do not ask the question of efficiency, about it below).
2. There is a team of specialists, let’s say that it’s far from “dreaming”, but not the worst offer on the market, tasks are being fulfilled, and this is the main criterion.
3. What is important, we have clients, and suppose that they are more than enough.
Now the main front of the problem is the manager’s operational blockage , which is often a sales manager, a marketer, and a project manager, and possibly also code or disignite from time to time and tries to study accounting. What a many-armed many-legged.
First, let's define what an operational blockage is and where do “legs grow from?”
OSes are those things that require your intervention, as a rule in the “DIRECTLY” and “URGENT !!! 11” modes. This is a routine such as tax calculation, closing a quarter, payroll, billing, managing projects and thoughts about a bright tomorrow.
There will be no bright tomorrow in this situation. And no, you will not be the first to do this. The only thing you need to do now is to stop for a couple of hours. And yes, you have to do it.
The big problem, in my opinion, is that a huge, overwhelming number of people who start their own business do not directly deal with those things that specifically and precisely bring their profit. They are ready to do anything, but not this.
If you find out in the description of yourself - you need to learn how to delegate your responsibilities. Start with a routine such as bookkeeping and management. Hire specialists. You are already at the very point of no return, when it is necessary to gradually hire professionals. Think about this kind of thing - a good specialist and stands well, this is logical, the market is the market. Do not evaluate this as a cost. This is an investment. Investing in the development of your business. Do not make a fatal mistake - do not hire non-professionals burning with ambitious eyes. All that interests you now is the effectiveness of a single unit in the form of an employee and the entire company as a whole. Hiring a layman = not efficient work. Ineffective work is money down the drain, and losses are many times greater than paying a good specialist.
“Fear” of many executives “if I hire a specialist, he will take away my clients, team / programmer / designer” ... Yes, that could be. And this is normal . Understand the market is huge and it has a whole bunch of cool experts from various fields and customers even more. Suppose that you have already taken a couple of steps, hired sales, maybe even two, and even an accountant - you continue to conduct projects yourself. This is another huge mistake the novice leader. Let the PM deal with projects. Supervise the manager, not his project. This will relieve you of another huge headache. A little later, I would recommend taking another PM (two usually last very, very long, provided that they are cool).
Here, your head hurts less, and now, your task is to find a good, experienced, specialist called the head of the sales department. No one is arguing or saying that you are doing it badly, the fact is that this must be delegated. This is exactly the fine line between you - a specialist in sales and a professional in them. The volume of his knowledge, successful practices and techniques is incomparably higher than yours. Use it.
In total, three salespeople are already a small, but army, capable of bringing customers and quite cost-effective projects.
Two PM - leading projects, overseeing tasks, helping the team.
Accountant - leading the lion's share of questions from which you can go crazy.
Total, plus six people. It is unnecessary to hire them right this very second, they need to be hired within 4-6-8 months, depending on your workload and capabilities. And now, at the very moment when a new mechanism has worked for you - you can finally do what the head should do - think about where to go next. Strategy, analysis, tactics. Here are your three main battlegrounds for a relatively long time.
This recipe is not a panacea and is suitable only for those web studios whose managers are in a state that borders on madness.
Thank you for reading and good luck. Delegate. Especially the routine.
So, we will consider everything as the simplest task (the conditions of the task are shamelessly stealing from my own post).
In stock:
1. A ready-made business that is not shaky and not faltering, but it works. (Under the concept of working, it implies functioning, and we, for now, do not ask the question of efficiency, about it below).
2. There is a team of specialists, let’s say that it’s far from “dreaming”, but not the worst offer on the market, tasks are being fulfilled, and this is the main criterion.
3. What is important, we have clients, and suppose that they are more than enough.
Now the main front of the problem is the manager’s operational blockage , which is often a sales manager, a marketer, and a project manager, and possibly also code or disignite from time to time and tries to study accounting. What a many-armed many-legged.
First, let's define what an operational blockage is and where do “legs grow from?”
OSes are those things that require your intervention, as a rule in the “DIRECTLY” and “URGENT !!! 11” modes. This is a routine such as tax calculation, closing a quarter, payroll, billing, managing projects and thoughts about a bright tomorrow.
A little shock therapy.
There will be no bright tomorrow in this situation. And no, you will not be the first to do this. The only thing you need to do now is to stop for a couple of hours. And yes, you have to do it.
The big problem, in my opinion, is that a huge, overwhelming number of people who start their own business do not directly deal with those things that specifically and precisely bring their profit. They are ready to do anything, but not this.
If you find out in the description of yourself - you need to learn how to delegate your responsibilities. Start with a routine such as bookkeeping and management. Hire specialists. You are already at the very point of no return, when it is necessary to gradually hire professionals. Think about this kind of thing - a good specialist and stands well, this is logical, the market is the market. Do not evaluate this as a cost. This is an investment. Investing in the development of your business. Do not make a fatal mistake - do not hire non-professionals burning with ambitious eyes. All that interests you now is the effectiveness of a single unit in the form of an employee and the entire company as a whole. Hiring a layman = not efficient work. Ineffective work is money down the drain, and losses are many times greater than paying a good specialist.
Shock therapy number two.
“Fear” of many executives “if I hire a specialist, he will take away my clients, team / programmer / designer” ... Yes, that could be. And this is normal . Understand the market is huge and it has a whole bunch of cool experts from various fields and customers even more. Suppose that you have already taken a couple of steps, hired sales, maybe even two, and even an accountant - you continue to conduct projects yourself. This is another huge mistake the novice leader. Let the PM deal with projects. Supervise the manager, not his project. This will relieve you of another huge headache. A little later, I would recommend taking another PM (two usually last very, very long, provided that they are cool).
Here, your head hurts less, and now, your task is to find a good, experienced, specialist called the head of the sales department. No one is arguing or saying that you are doing it badly, the fact is that this must be delegated. This is exactly the fine line between you - a specialist in sales and a professional in them. The volume of his knowledge, successful practices and techniques is incomparably higher than yours. Use it.
In total, three salespeople are already a small, but army, capable of bringing customers and quite cost-effective projects.
Two PM - leading projects, overseeing tasks, helping the team.
Accountant - leading the lion's share of questions from which you can go crazy.
Total, plus six people. It is unnecessary to hire them right this very second, they need to be hired within 4-6-8 months, depending on your workload and capabilities. And now, at the very moment when a new mechanism has worked for you - you can finally do what the head should do - think about where to go next. Strategy, analysis, tactics. Here are your three main battlegrounds for a relatively long time.
This recipe is not a panacea and is suitable only for those web studios whose managers are in a state that borders on madness.
Thank you for reading and good luck. Delegate. Especially the routine.