As a founder, it\u2019s easy to want to do everything, especially if you have a technical background. But just because you\u00a0can<\/i>\u00a0do everything doesn\u2019t mean you\u00a0should<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Doing everything not only leads to burnout, but it can also discourage your team \u2013 especially if you are completing the tasks you hired them to do!\u00a0It’s also a sign that you don\u2019t trust them and you think they\u2019re incapable of functioning without you.<\/p>\n
Delegation is hard, but it\u2019s necessary for your own sanity and can provide the foundation for a well-oiled team. I\u2019ve been running a little experiment with my team at\u00a0BizeeBee<\/span>, which I\u2019ve code-named \u201cPoornima\u2019s Paris Plan.\u201d<\/p>\n The objective of PPP is to have the BizeeBee team function without me for one or two weeks a year and be almost completely autonomous with the freedom to make any decisions aside from selling the company and hiring and firing staff.<\/p>\n The first year I went on vacation, I assigned projects and told everyone to sit tight while I got some R&R. This worked well since we didn\u2019t yet have a product on the market or paying customers.<\/p>\n However, the next year we did have a product on the market and some paying customers, so\u00a0there was more at stake. I put a plan in place to ensure product progression wouldn\u2019t slow down, and I notified the team of my vacation a month prior. I also assigned one person on the team to handle my day-to-day tasks. In the end, the team functioned pretty well in spite of a few communication breakdowns.<\/p>\n This is the third year that I took a vacation, and I didn\u2019t want to be bothered. I provided the team with high-level directions, but I wanted my employees to think for themselves and be comfortable making decisions without me. Because we had grown as a company, it was imperative that business carry on without any communication interruptions.<\/p>\n Two weeks before I left, I put them to the test and made myself less available. When I returned from my trip, I was thrilled to see that they functioned extremely well and successfully shipped product despite my absence.<\/p>\n The moral of the story is:<\/p>\n Although I was away, I periodically checked in, but it was only to have casual conversation with my team. I made the conscious decision not to make any decisions or do any real work.<\/p>\n If your team is incapable of functioning without you, think about how your actions are holding them back.<\/p>\n Yes, I\u2019m blaming you, the founder, first and foremost. If you micromanage, then it\u2019s time to stop.\u00a0Checking in once a week is enough, unless you\u2019re onboarding a new employee. If you have given your team the freedom, and they are still unable to execute, then you might need to re-evaluate their skills and your hiring criteria.<\/p>\n My goal for next year is to take an even longer vacation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a founder, it\u2019s easy to want to do everything, especially if you have a technical background. But just because you\u00a0can\u00a0do everything doesn\u2019t mean you\u00a0should. Doing everything not only leads to burnout, but it can also discourage your team \u2013 especially if you are completing the tasks you hired them to do!\u00a0It’s also a sign […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1200,"featured_media":7422,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n