Delegating 101: It's All In The Ask

Delegating 101: It’s All in How You Ask
Erin Blaskie
www.bsetc.com
@ErinBlaskie (Twitter)

A Little About Me
Launched my virtual assistance firm, BSETC (www.bsetc.com) in 2004
Have serviced over 300 entrepreneurs around the globe with their online business
Currently have a team of nineteen service professionals

A Little About You
Entrepreneur: looking to delegate but want to make sure you are effective.
Entrepreneur: currently delegating, getting okay results but room for improvement.
Entrepreneur: currently delegating but not getting the results you want.
Virtual assistant: looking for better ways to communicate to your clients.

Leadership & Learning are Indispensible to each other.
-- John F. Kennedy

Primary Delegation Frustrations
Lack of communication.
Deadlines not met.
Issues around trust and release of tasks.
Unsure about when things will come back.
Feeling overwhelmed by the process.
Not sure about what to let go and what to keep.

Primary Frustrations When Receiving Tasks on the VA End of Things
No details given on a project – left to guess.
Not receiving positive feedback but only hearing the negative / what’s wrong.
No clear deadlines or timelines provided.
Client not understanding how long tasks take and client assuming 24-hours is enough leeway for tasks.
Everything being “urgent”.

How Wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.
-- Anne Frank

It’s All in the “Ask”
Asking for what you want clearly provides you with:
Increased responsiveness
Clarity on the project reducing edits, back and forth and longer turnaround
Calmness in the work being delegated
Improved relationships

But, It’s Tough...
Entrepreneurs hesitate spending the time to properly “ask” because:
They feel like that is why they are delegating... To avoid the time spent.
They just want to offload instead of actively participating in the process.
There is a feeling that things are clear in their mind so they think it will translate easily.

Excellent Delegation Includes...
Precise, focused direction and vision
Examples, screenshots and supporting URLs
Short, concise wording with bullet points
Utilizing the tools and the systems
Clarity on deadlines
Giving enough lead time on projects
Being okay with the back and forth

Poor Delegation Includes...
Total lack of direction / vision
Contradicting language
Lengthy paragraphs
Avoiding the systems the VA has setup
Sending multiple messages in different places
Not giving clear deadlines
Becoming quickly frustrated

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly in Delegation Tools
Basecamp
Basecamp allows you to create workflow.
Most virtual assistants already use Basecamp for their clients.
E-mail
Delegating tasks through e-mail is not advised as there is no tracking and very little task management.

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly in Delegation Tools
Phone
Telephone is only good if the notes taken on the call and the items discussed are put directly into Basecamp or whatever system you use.
Skype / Instant Messenger
Avoid delegating items through instant messenger altogether as there is not a good way to delegate tasks and record them.

Step One: Utilize Tools to Support “The Ask”
Action Item #1
Setup Basecamp or have your virtual assistant add a new project to their account for you.
Things to Watch For
Now that you have a system, don’t find things to add in there just to use it. This is used to compliment what you are doing and not create more chaos.

Step Two: Using the Tools to “Ask”
Basecamp
Live demo of software.
SnagIt
Live demo of the power of screenshots to compliment your delegating “asks”
Color Swatches, Background Patterns
Googling Great Samples

We should work on our process, not the outcome of our processes.
-- W. Edwards Deming

Tools You May Want to Use
Basecamp - http://bit.ly/3xm3s
SnagIt- http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp
Audio Acrobat - http://bit.ly/UgNih
Kuler - http://kuler.adobe.com/
Maxemail - http://www.maxemail.com/

Engage With Me So That I May Engage With You
@ErinBlaskie on Twitter
www.erinblaskie.com and www.bsetc.com
erin@erinblaskie.com

If you are not moving closer to what you want in sales (or in life), you probably aren't doing enough asking.
-- Jack Canfield

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Delegating 101: It's All In The Ask

by Erin Blaskie on Nov 18, 2009

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