By: Tony Zoellner
Sometimes, as a business owner or department head, the most productive thing you could do is to leave the office and do nothing. What you’ll learn from the experience will prove invaluable by allowing you to observe how your staff (company) operates in your absence (Good and bad).
Do really want your company or department to be inoperable without your being there?
As an owner you probably grew your company by working extremely hard, filling all the roles as the chief cook and bottle washer because you had to. You didn’t have the cash to invest in employees and simply had to do all the work yourself.
Now that you’ve grown into a larger company with more employees, you may still be finding yourself immersed in the day-to-day activities of the company simply out of habit.
Your goal should be to have your company work without you. If it can’t, then you don’t have a business, you’ve bought a job. Your absence could give you a piece of mind knowing that when you are absent things will work smoother OR give you an opportunity to outline steps needed to get it to that point.
It’s also a good way to maximize your company’s value if you ever want to sell, if that’s a goal of yours. Who wants to buy a company that needs you! Quicksprout.com discusses this in more details in creating a company that works without you.
I once worked with small business who’s owner, who I’ll call John, was a very successful entrepreneur spending years building his company from scratch by being the salesman, order filler and delivery driver. His mother was his original bookkeeper.
As years went by and his company grew, employees were hired and eventually having several of his children join the company. So, what happened? John became the President but continued to do all the things he had done throughout his life to build his company. He was good at it afterall. His intent was to have all the employees (and family) he hired to do this work, but was drawn back to what he knew.
Whenever he went on vacation, he spent most of it checking up on everyone to see if they were doing their job and continued to work from his hotel room, doing what he would normally do at the office. The employees and his children, having never been empowered or trusted, actually enjoyed it as it relieved them of all the pressure, doing much less than they could have. They knew everything was being done by John on his vacation!
On return from your next sabbatical, take notice or ask around about who stepped up to make sure everything was operating on all cylinders. Often, things do not get done through the normal lines of authority. You may be surprised who acutrually takes the reigns, your natural leaders.
Everyone knows the saying “When the cat is away the mouse will play”. Make it a point to find out who played and who worked.
Use these observations to tighten up your procedures and processes for the next time you’re not around. Should you be giving up more of your authority and empower the people who have shown competency and willingness to step-up? Do difficult staff changes need to be made?
You may be anxious about making these changes and outside your skillset. A business coach can help you think through this process and find ways and get your employees to do more with you doing less. Knowing how to effectively delegate is a process that can be learned and takes practice. With delegation, mistakes can happen as well as pleasant surprises as new approaches to common problems appear.
Stepping back and watching your company work without you is very revealing and important.
Wouldn’t it be nice if your company could run without you ever stepping foot in it, other than maybe picking up your paycheck?
Thousands of successful business owners spend much of their time hiring, supporting, encouraging, promoting, training and educating their employees. However, most company owners do not. Start working ON your company not IN it.
Carter Harkins and Taylor Hill at Digdifferent approach this from a different angle as you being the single point of failure. What if you’re ill and unable to work for a while? What would happen to your business if you hit a rough patch? Would you lose everything you’ve worked so hard for?
Learn how you can get more done by doing nothing. Take a vacation, a real vacation. Get your company to work on autopilot without you. It’s good for you as well as them.
Stop losing your best employees to your competitors and download my free Staff Survey Checklist and Development Guide to harness the power of your employees. It is just one piece of my Simple Steps Roadmap I use with my clients. Book a free 30-minute call with me to see if I can help you move from overwhelmed and spinning your wheels to working with focus and intent.
Often times, embracing that your company or department is broken is the essential step to revitalizing it. Progress starts with a vision. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re never going to get there. Is it worth a FREE 30-minute call to discuss?