Agent Diary: Learning to delegate will benefit your business and empower staff

Over the past few weeks, I’ve spoken to some senior executives both inside and outside our industry. One of them told me he has handed in his notice because he is ‘burnt out’ with sleepless nights over his role. I wish he’d spoken to me a year ago.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the old saying ‘if you want something done right, do it yourself’. There is a lot of truth in it, but it can also become a stumbling block in your career if your attitude doesn’t change over time. The problem is that the more you do, the more it can seem that all is under control from the outside – and so it will continue to be left for you to do. 

A lot of travel agencies, including my own, initially grew through the sheer amount of time their founders spent working in the business. 

Our expertise lay in selling the product. It took me a long time to step back, employ more staff, delegate and consider my end game. Imagine if you are the only person who can make final decisions, get tasks done or know how to do them right? Everything slows down because others are waiting for you. That’s a bottleneck.

Trust your team

If you have an attitude that others can’t do it right, it means you micromanage and give yourself more work. That demonstrates lack of trust and control issues. 
In small businesses it’s hard not to wear all the hats – for sales, admin, accounting and marketing. That’s the operational overload.

Believe it or not, you are reducing the ability to expand your own business by working in it, instead of on it. You’re applying no focus on the future.

January has always been known as a busy month in the travel industry. There are targets to be met and campaign launches to be digested, disseminated and sold. 

So how did you maximise that peak selling period? Did you try to do it all yourself?

Change your attitude

A number of years ago I realised my attitude had to change. Here are four simple things I did to enable that to happen, which I’d recommend adopting for your own businesses:

1. Match tasks to the skill of your team. In a small business you know who can take on roles.
2. Empower people and give them training and resources. Most people want to improve their skills for future senior roles too. It boosts morale and increases engagement. 
3. Clearly define to yourself and your team what outcomes you need, why it matters and what rewards will follow key achievements.
4. Stop micromanaging. Give your team a fair chance to use their own ability and creativity.

These simple steps relieve you of tasks to allow you to focus on growth, driving productivity and ultimately allowing room for expansion.

We’re all so busy in the travel industry, particularly at the start of the year, but sometimes taking a step back and reviewing how you’re running your business to see if you can make improvements can be invaluable. 

Adopt the 80/20 rule

Did you know that most proprietors of small businesses who delegate can grow their business by 33%? You are also developing future leaders who may just allow you the exit or retirement strategy that you want and avoid the bottleneck burnout.

If you focus on the 20% of tasks that yield 80% of your results, you prevent ‘bottlenecks’ where tasks stall because they are waiting for your approval and you will:

1. Feel less overwhelmed, stressed and burnt out.
2. Have more headspace to be creative.
3. Be able to take a break, go out for lunch or even leave work early.

Remember, delegation is not ‘dumping’ work. It’s an investment by the owners to work on the business and not in it, so success and future progression are achievable for all.