If you are like me, you often find yourself needing someone else to do work for you. But who do you need? Do you hire a pro who will cost serious cash, hire in someone like an intern, or delegate to someone on your staff? (And by hire I mean pay an outsider to do the work I do. I do not mean put them on the payroll permanently.)
Here are my rough rules on this issue.
Rule 1 : DELEGATE – I know how to do it myself and I have a team member who want to learn. In this case I delegate it to the team member and offer them the resources to help them grow, such as tools or training.
Rule 2 : HIRE – I know how to do it myself and I have time to train someone. If I am an expert and I know exactly how to do it and can show someone, I hire anybody who is conscientious. Skills may not matter as much in this case since I have the skill to show and tell.
Rule 3 : SUBCONTRACT – I am not an expert and what needs to be done needs special attention. Things that might cost me more money if done wrong are in this category. Things such as websites, product creation, etc. In this case I find an expert and pay them. I also spend some time searching for the RIGHT expert.
I know many of you do it differently and have your own reasons, but this method works for me pretty well. At least up to now!
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I will try to do everything myself if possible, but I have learned through some hard lessons that it is sometimes best left to the professionals. At work I tend to delegate tasks out because I have several different things going on at one time, but I am always there to assist them. I don’t have a problem with hiring someone who is not experienced and training them, but you really have to have the time to do so. Sometimes that is not the best approach.
I’m currently reading “The 4-Hour Work Week” and he talks about this idea a lot. I wouldn’t mind a virtual assistant(VA), just not sure how much of my life could be outsourced. It’s an idea that I need to research more.
I have only been in management since January of 2011 and have already hired 4 people so this post is very interesting to me. The area I manage could be considered a “turnstile” area as employees often hire in and advance to other higher paying positions. I find myself looking for a more conscientious employee that can be trained. In the past I have met some employees that, while they may know alot, lack the personal skills to add value to a team.
The rules listed above all sound great, but how do you build trust with someone to help you?
I can’t run the business alone and help is needed. Does anyone feel as if trust is an issue? I have trust issues delegating work to team members. I can be considered a micro-manager. Micro-managing is not always bad.
TJ – I would say micromanaging is a trust issue. You can only get so far if you have to do everything yourself and your way. I would start out delegating small things and let people show you what they can get done. Once you start trusting someone o they can take it over. See the post on Delegating!
In my side business of home building I am completely dependant upon the work of my subcontractors. This is why I prefer to employ friends and family when ever possible. When I have not been able to hire subcontractors that are friends and family, I feel that I have gotten average or below average work performed about 25% of the time.
And this is a direct problem with the trust issue mentioned above. A friend or family I trust to tell me the truth about why something turned out the way it did, or why we need to do something a different way. With subcontractors I’ve hired, even though I always have a good reference, I don’t already have that open rapport.
Finding, hiring and keeping the right subcontractors will always be the lifeblood of my side business. A business which I hope to make my full time employment soon.