How Does Effective Delegation Lead to Better Business Results?
Small Biz Digest
How Does Effective Delegation Lead to Better Business Results?
Discover how strategic delegation can transform a business with insights from top executives. From a CEO's perspective on how delegating experimentation spurs innovation to a CEO's experience with delegation-enhancing operations, we've compiled five firsthand accounts that underscore the power of effective delegation.
- Delegating Experimentation Spurs Innovation
- Expert-Led Revamp Boosts Business
- Delegation Exceeds Tight Deadlines
- Strategic Delegation Empowers Team
- COO Delegation Enhances Operations
Delegating Experimentation Spurs Innovation
An experience we have had very recently at Lumen SEO of effective delegation, and where it led to better business results, is by delegating our experimentation. So, I am really interested in what experimentation offers a business, and if you look at any business model, from Amazon to Apple, for every successful product they release, there are 20 that fail. It is for this reason that experimentation is absolutely essential because the one thing that succeeds will pay for all the things that fail.
I found myself, as an owner of a business, finding it very hard to lead that experimentation because I was almost overly protective of the business. I did not want things to fail because I wanted things to be completely effective, whereas I knew that an employee would have less of that emotional tie to it, but I needed someone who had enough initiative and curiosity. I needed a scientist in the business who would want to carry out this experimentation in a way that was less restrictive than how I would have done it. So, I delegated our experimentation to one of our account managers. This has now led to us finding new results and new strategies in SEO that we didn't know existed, and that had never been published, which now gives us a unique position in the market.
Through that experimentation, we found unique elements that we can add to a website to improve its SEO far better than the traditional techniques. We would not have done that if it wasn't for that experimentation, and we would not have discovered that if that experimentation had not been delegated to one of our members of staff.
Expert-Led Revamp Boosts Business
We were in the process of revamping our online platform, which is the backbone of our business. As part of the leadership team, there's always this expectancy to have the vision, to define what 'good' looks like. The reality, however, is that no one person's vision will be as well-thought-out as the collaboration of a group of people, each an expert in their own area.
For this reason, we selected the people with the most expertise and delegated the project to them. It was a resounding success that not only inspired our team to show up at their best but also gave them a platform to showcase their skills beyond the routine of day-to-day and improved our business beyond what we thought was possible.
Delegation Exceeds Tight Deadlines
In a project involving a tight deadline, effective delegation played a crucial role. I divided the project into smaller tasks based on team members' strengths and expertise. One team focused on research, another on content creation, and a third on design and presentation. This division of labor allowed each group to focus and excel in their area, significantly improving efficiency and quality of work. The result was not only meeting the deadline but also delivering a product that exceeded client expectations. This experience reinforced the importance of trusting your team's abilities and the power of delegation in achieving superior business outcomes.
Strategic Delegation Empowers Team
In our early growth phase, I realized the importance of delegation during a major project. Initially, I was overseeing every detail, from strategy to execution. However, as the workload increased, this approach became unsustainable. I decided to delegate specific responsibilities to team members whose skills aligned with those tasks.
For instance, creative tasks were assigned to our most innovative minds, while analytical work went to data-driven team members. This shift not only empowered my team, allowing them to take ownership and bring their expertise to the forefront, but it also freed me to focus on broader strategic goals.
COO Delegation Enhances Operations
We created a standard operating procedure and delegated the operational responsibilities of our business to our COO. Over time, this role became an important part of the operational success of our business. They owned the day-to-day responsibilities that resulted in business outcomes, while also further delegating to their team. The result is consistently higher revenue, lower employee churn, happier employees, happy clients, and a growing team.
