Day 1: Identify what you do

 Hello and welcome to Day 1 of Delegation Express on the art (and practice) of delegation.

Grab yourself a stack of Post-it notes and let’s get started!

Today, you’re going to learn two things:

1. What efficiency is; and
2. What you ACTUALLY do every day, so you can identify where you’re wasting time.

1. What’s Efficiency

We’re going to look harder at efficiency in the livestream. For now, just keep in mind that efficiency means managing your time and workload so that YOU are doing the work where YOU add the most value (for your business, your clients, and yourself).

The ONLY way to do this is to delegate as much as possible of the stuff that doesn't add value or gets in your way. And that’s a really important theme for Delegation Express and for organizational efficiency generally.

The goal is to get you out of your own way, so that you can actually do less and still achieve more! Improving efficiency will help you do that.

If you’re solo, don’t worry. You can still delegate. Over the course of this week you’re going to discover how you can get the right people doing the right things in your practice even if you don’t have a team now.

2. What do you do?

The first step to finding MORE time is to identify, visually, how you’re spending your time now and on what. Armed with that knowledge, you’ll be able to make the right decisions about what to change, and you’ll have a solid foundation for the delegation plan you’re going to create this week.

Today, you’re going to create a list of all the routine tasks you do.

For now focus only on the business and administrative tasks involved in running your practice, your firm, or your legal department.

You can apply the exact same strategy to legal work, too, but for now, think of everything you personally do that is not billable.

When you’re ready, grab yourself a pile of sticky notes. You’re going to have a Post-It Party!

Daily Action: The Post-It Party

Take 10 minutes to brainstorm all of the business and administrative tasks that you do.

Include daily tasks and things you do less frequently. Write each one down on an individual Post-It and stick each one up on your wall or a window as you go.

If you don’t have Post-It notes, you can just jot everything down on a notepad, but you’re going to be categorizing your tasks tomorrow, so Post-Its will make doing that much easier.

As you work through the rest of today, every time you do or think of another business or administrative task, jot it down on another sticky note and add it to your wall.

Write down everything, no matter how small or insignificant it seems. Checking email. Entering an expense. Scheduling a meeting. Updating your calendar. Recording your time. Reviewing a pre-bill. Chasing a client for information. Answering a cold call. Everything!

Watch the Video

We take a deeper look at efficiency, utilization, and why delegation is the key to your profitability. 

End-of-Day Review

At the end of the day, stand in front of your wall of sticky notes, review everything you’ve captured so far, and think of any other business and administrative tasks you typically do but just didn’t do today. Maybe it’s archiving a file, sending an invoice, or making a collections call.

Capture each on a separate sticky and add it to your wall.

Accountability

Grab your phone, snap a picture of your wall, and share it in the Facebook group!

Day 3: Choose What to Delegate

In the last two days you’ve identified where you’re losing time in your day. You’ve categorized your tasks using the Delegation Quadrant:

Quadrant 1: Things you need to do

Quadrant 2: Things someone else could do, and you dislike doing

Quadrant 3: Things someone else could do, and you like doing

Quadrant 4: Things you need to stop doing altogether.

Ready for the next step?

How many times have you thought about delegating a task and decided it would take you too long to teach someone else to do it?

How many times have you said, “it only takes me a minute…I’ll just do it myself”?

If you’re wasting time on a 1-minute task that you do 5 times a day, every working day, that’s 20 hours across a year—and that’s assuming you don’t work weekends!
​

It’s time for a mindset shift

You need to think about saving time the way you think about saving money. It’s like compound interest…little things really do add up.

Think differently about training someone to take on a new task, or developing a checklist or template for someone to use. Think about it as an investment of time, not a waste of time. Recognize that the time you spend will pay you dividends.

Delegation won’t be perfect the first time, or even the second time. But the time you invest is time well-spent. Once your task is being carried out correctly by someone else, you never have to do that task again. You save that time in perpetuity.

The next time you’re thinking it will take you too long to teach someone to do the little things, have a look at this chart from XKCD. It shows you how much time you can spend across 5 years making a task more efficient—or teaching someone to do that task for you—before you’re losing time.

And before you tell me 5 years is too long, ask yourself how long you’ve already been in business, wasting time on that little task; and how long you’d like to stay in business, never having to waste that time again. I bet it’s longer than 5 years!

Daily Action

Your goal today is to choose 3 small things you’re going to delegate.

It's tempting to get the really big stuff off your plate first. We get it. But we also want you to succeed. So start small. Not only do the little time savings add up, they’re faster and easier to implement.

1. Look at your Delegation Quadrant and focus on Quadrant 2.

2. Pick 3 small things from Quadrant 2 that you want to delegate.

Why just from Quadrant 2? Because Quadrant 2 contains the things you really don’t like doing. The first time someone makes a mistake in a task you've delegated, you'll be tempted to take that task back. But you’ll be LESS likely to want to take it back if it’s something you dislike doing yourself!

3. In the unlikely event that you don't have 3 small things in Quadrant 2, you can choose a task or 2 from Quadrant 3 as well. But these will be harder for you to delegate because you enjoy doing them. It's just too easy to justify keeping them!

And that’s it for today’s Daily Action!

Accountability

Once you’ve picked the first three tasks, jump into the Facebook Group and tell us what you’ve decided to delegate!

Watch the Video

​We’ll be answering your questions and talking a little more about the taking a "small changes work" approach to delegation AND improving your practice.

What’s Next

Tomorrow, we’re going to look at options for WHO you can delegate work to.

We’re going to share a PDF packed with ideas and resources for outsourcing work AND tell you how you can access over 3 hours of free virtual assistance. 

Take a few minutes now and watch the Live.

Day 5: Quick Delegation Process

Let’s recap where we are. If you completed yesterday’s Daily Action then you now know to whom you’ll delegate each of the 3 tasks that you’ve selected. Hopefully, you remembered to post your plan in the Facebook Group. If not, take a moment and post it now.

Now that you know the WHAT and the WHO...let’s talk about HOW to execute the delegation.

Your success depends on creating clear instructions that make it easy for the Delegate to take over responsibility for the task. The goal is to increase the chance that your work is done right.

Creating Clear Instructions

Here’s our 5-step process for creating clear instructions each time you delegate a new task to someone. Follow this process and you’ll find delegation is easier and more successful than ever before.

1. Track what YOU actually do

For each new task you want to delegate, track exactly what you do now to accomplish the task.

Your goal: reduce what you do into a series of clear steps that someone else can easily follow.

We’re not asking you to write a novel. Just jot down the key steps for what you do and how you do it.

2. Record all the information needed at each step

For each step, include the information your Delegate will need. For example:

• Where do they find the inputs?
• What resources do they need (e.g. a template, a system, or an app)?
• Where do they save or store the output of the task?
• To whom should it be delivered and how should it be delivered?

You can keep track of the steps on a pad of paper, a Word document, or even a note on your smartphone.

We build them as checklists in Trello, a simple project management tool.

3. Test your instructions

Once you’ve completed and reviewed the list of steps and instructions for the task, test it yourself the next time you undertake the task.

Start at the beginning and follow your written instructions exactly. Can you follow them? Do you get the right outcome?

If yes, great!

Now you need to test the instructions you’ve created on someone else. This may be the person to whom you’re delegating the task or it may be someone else in your office.

We usually test complex sets of instructions on each other before we delegate them.

So, if Karen’s described the task she wants our VA, Holly, to complete, she’ll get me to run through the instructions she’s created for Holly to follow. If I can’t follow them (which definitely happens, because Karen and I think completely differently), then she knows she has to change them.

4. Tweak your instructions

No matter who tests your instructions, you’ll need to accept that it will take you a few tries to get them right, especially if it's a task you do more than once but NOT regularly. But the effort always pays off.

5. Teach your instructions

Invest just a little more time and take your Delegate through your instructions. Make sure the instructions work for them and answer any questions they have.

And don’t be afraid to let your Delegate tweak your instructions. You do NOT need to own them once you’ve delegated the task. In fact, you’ll likely find that your Delegate will improve the instructions in ways you never thought about.

So that’s our 5-step process for creating clear instructions for the task you are delegating. But there’s just a little bit more that we want to share with you.

The Ultimate Secret to Successful Delegation

Mastering the art of delegation requires more than just knowing WHAT tasks to delegate, to WHOM, and the mechanics we discussed above in connection with the HOW. It’s not just about the tasks.

You also need to give your Delegate authority to make decisions relevant to the task and then hold the Delegate responsible for those decisions. If you don’t, the time you hoped to save and allocate to other things will be eroded by constantly being pulled back into the task to answer questions and make decisions.

Giving real authority and assigning accountability are integral to the HOW part of successful delegation and bring us right back to the “train, trust, and let go” mindset from the Day 3 Livestream.

This means that as part of the delegation process, you have got to clearly establish the authority you are giving (or not giving) the Delegate, identify your expectations for the outcomes, and define their accountability for the process.

Daily Action

Your assignment today is to pick one of the three business or administrative tasks you’ve decided to delegate and create your list of instructions following the approach we just outlined.

​Here’s a link to a Trello Board that Karen created for you to use with the people you delegate tasks to. Make a copy and build your instructions in there!

Then review and test your instructions. Once you’re satisfied that your process is clear and complete, contact your Delegate, assign the task, and then be sure that you have properly conveyed the authority you’re granting and their accountability.

Take a few minutes to review the instructions with them, be sure they understand, see if they have any questions, and then let them run with it. Remember, your success depends on being able to train, trust, and then let go!

Bonus: Onboarding Checklist!

If you’re bringing in a new virtual resource, follow our Onboarding Checklist to make the process as smooth as possible. Download it by clicking the button at the bottom of this section.

And remember, start with the expectation that it’s going to take some time to get the delegation right.

Accept that what you delegate won’t be done perfectly the first, second, or possibly even the third time.

Once you’ve got the process right and your Delegate has a good handle on the checklist, guide, or template you’ve provided in support of the delegation, the time you save will pay you back in perpetuity.

Accountability

Tell us what you’re going to use to build your set of instructions. Let us know in the Facebook Group.

Watch the Video

We talk you through our 5-step delegation strategy and show you exactly how we build processes using Trello. We'll also share stories of building our team and how our Practice Accelerator Members are approaching delegation to grow their practices.

What’s Next?

We know life, work, and clients can interfere with even the best of intentions. Sometimes, all you need is a little accountability to help you realize those best intention and achieve your goals.

If this describes you, then the Delegation Sprint is perfect for you. Three weeks of focused implementation support to get the delegation plan you’ve just created working so you can start working smarter instead of working harder and achieve the success you deserve faster!

If you apply what you’ve learned about delegation this week, you will find more time…time that you can invest in building a more productive and profitable practice, which, after all, was our starting point.

Whether or not you decide to join us for the Delegation Sprint, the question is, where do you go from here?

Mastering the art of delegation is key to organizational efficiency, which is the key to being more successful, and having the freedom to enjoy your success, but there is so much more to organizational efficiency than just delegation.

Discover a Smarter Way to Run Your Law Firm

Join Practice Accelerator Coaching and discover a smarter way to run your law firm. With a focus on business efficiency and practice management, this solution-driven program will help you maximize your firm's potential without spending all your time at the office.

If you’ve been managing a firm for years or want to equip yourself for future leadership roles, this program is designed for you.

You'll learn everything you need to lead a more successful, scalable legal practice. You will get clarity around your critical priorities, eliminate inefficiency to get more done, faster, and improve your firm’s results.

​Apply now to join this exclusive coaching program and accelerate your practice.

Places are limited to just 30 people. The groups are small by design because community matters.

When you run a law practice, it can feel like you're the only one doing everything. But you're NOT alone.

We're only accepting 2 groups of 15 people into Practice Accelerator. You'll get to know everyone. Together, you'll hold each other accountable for making progress, discover solutions to common challenges, and develop lasting relationships that will help you grow into your future self faster.

Don’t miss your chance to join this very exclusive program.

​Schedule your discovery call. We'll share more information about the program, learn about you and your firm, answer your questions, and ensure you're a good fit for Practice Accelerator.

We’ll be happy to answer any questions you have about the program during this afternoon’s livestream on Facebook.

See you later.