Dear SJ,

5 years ago I started a one-man business in IT services. Doing everything myself, from commercial conversations to implementation to full administration. I feel very lucky as I organically grew and expanded to currently 5 employees. Tasks were redistributed as I need more time to work ON my business. The issue is:  My employees are unable to do the job I did. I see daily problems with quality and deadlines. I’m forced to continuously check and correct. It drowns my energy. Sometimes I feel like quitting. I don't want to lose credibility to customers I've worked for so hard.

How can I get my team to grow the same knowledge and attitude so that I get more peace of mind? Or is that a utopia?

Signed:

An entrepreneur who never feels at ease.

Dear entrepreneur who never feels at ease.

First of all let me reassure you: The fact that you ask this question means that you recognize that you want to create space for yourself to work more strategically, efficiently and with greater impact. It’s feeling risky.

Control often stands in the way of success. What causes the need for control? Why are you afraid to let go and trust others to do it correctly? Do you really believe you're the only one able to do this?

Effective leaders are skilled in delegating and developing people. It takes time: to give details, to show and tell how, to regularly check and give feedback. As people develop, you can delegate with a peace of mind and spend more time "working on" your organization.

How do you start letting go? Below are some tactics that will help you be more successful.

Create a shared view of how you as an organization deliver value to customers. It’s essential for your team that they can empathize with why and how the expectations of the customer can be exceeded.

 Make a detailed plan for transferring the tasks. Try to make the transfer manageable by dividing the objectives into smaller tasks.

Be clear about the objectives and results of the task. A concrete objective is smart: specific, measurable, acceptable, realistic and timebound. Un’smart’ stuff creates (incorrect) assumptions and frustrations.

Agree how and how frequent you monitor progress. Giving feedback in the right way is crucial. Following method can help you:

• Behavior: state the factual specific behavior of the other person
• Consequence: explain the effect of that behavior on the environment
• Feeling: tell what emotion this behavior triggers in you
• Desired: make a request with concrete behavior that you would like to see
• Create a safe space for learning and failures. Making mistakes is inevitable, and necessary for everyone's learning curve. Avoiding mistakes will be your biggest mistake!

Proper delegation will enable growth opportunities and professional development for both you and your team. Take a deep breath and try from today onwards!

In Flow & On purpose,

Sarah-Jane