- Risa Auger
Benay Informer 04.12.23
Empower Your Staff to "Make More Time"
If read this piece straight through, without interruption, I estimate that this latest edition of the Informer will take only approximately five minutes of your day to read. Are you saying while reading this: "I don’t have 5 minutes"? Me too.
As a business owner, five minutes of uninterrupted time to do anything can feel like an unattainable luxury.
Your expertise, your ideas, and your encouragement are needed regularly to keep things moving along. Whether it’s a quick question via text, a phone call, or a knock at the door, these interruptions happen more often than you’d like. Interruptions, no matter how short, can impair concentration, focus, and flow.
Experts say you spend 20% of your time doing 80% of your work.
That’s nuts!
This means you spend most of your day doing unproductive or unnecessary tasks that are not moving your business forward, aiding customers, or improving your bottom line.
How can you give yourself more time in longer intervals? A few things you can try on your schedule are:
Use time-blocking techniques. This tactic lets you focus on one type of task—that you can block off on your calendar—for a duration of time that will get the job done. I make the first 30 minutes of everyday email review time-then no matter what, I get onto the rest of my tasks until the next email review period at noon.
Institute consistent “Q&A” periods when you welcome being asked questions, shooting the breeze to hear how people are doing, and give 100% of your attention to the issue at hand or the person in front of you. Being available at the same time most days for spur-of-the-moment questions, open discussions, etc., allows your staff to plan for and wait to ask you non-urgent questions when they know they will have your uninterrupted focus and attention.
Most importantly, empower your staff to solve most “problems” on their own in a way that aligns with your inclinations and the company values. If you have confidence in your team and they understand your company mission and methods, micro-managing daily decisions will lessen as they learn.
When you enable your team to work through decisions without first consulting you, you are showing them that you have confidence in their thoughts and assessments and that they can be trusted in your organization to make meaningful, independent, and trustworthy contributions.
Working this way keeps you in the know but out of the crazy.
Ideally, your staff will give you the highlights of any situation, as well as the solution that was arrived at. Imagine all the time you will get back in your day that can be used to solve your OWN business dilemmas! Creating a team that acts independently begins with the hiring and training process and needs to be reiterated throughout each employee’s tenure.
Ask your HR team to impart this idea during onboarding
Encourage and reward creativity when a team member comes to you
Bring leadership and staff members together to discuss and provide ample feedback, including your appreciation for new ideas
Ask for a solution before suggesting one
Reward great ideas with words of encouragement and even small offerings such as gift cards.
Even with the best of intentions and much practice, not every issue that occurs will be able to be solved by your team without your input.
Knowing when to teach and when to guide is an imperative distinction. As you work with any team member, your trust in them should grow, and their confidence in their own opinions and decisions should grow, ultimately creating an incredible trusting, innovative, and compassionate organization at every level.
ICYMI, Benay’s experts are fantastic problem solvers! With their help, you can avoid the pitfalls often experienced when your bookkeeping is not done well. Call us to discuss how we can give you more time back in your day.
Keep being amazing! Dawn
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— Alfred Tennyson