The #1 Shift We Implemented with Our Team in Order to Transfer Ownership and Delegate
Episode 617: Show Notes
The interesting thing about any mistake is that it’s not always detrimental when you do it at the beginning, but holding onto it can sometimes prevent you from future success! At a recent conference we spoke at, we were asked about some of the biggest mistakes we have made in our business; and one of the things we highlighted was structuring our business according to task-based activities, rather than bringing in a team of permanent employees with outcome-based deliverables.
It can be frustrating to hire a whole team of contractors and you still feel like you’re bearing the brunt of everything that keeps your business moving forward but, unfortunately, it’s also unavoidable! Until you make the move toward bringing employees on to share in your vision, this has to be the case. Sharing too much of that burden with your contractors can lead to burnout and inefficiency, especially as a woman-led business and, while we totally get that there are major problems with the ‘Rise and Grind’ culture, we believe it’s equally problematic not to do anything in your business. Unless you’re willing to drop some major capital at the risk of never seeing a return, you absolutely have to get involved. Stop comparing yourself to Jeff Bezos! You can’t compare your small business with the big guns in Silicon Valley because you just don’t have the same resources that they do. We encourage you to keep that in mind when you’re structuring your team and mapping out your own role.
Creating outcomes for your employees is one of the most efficient ways to start this process. Not all metrics are quantifiable, which is why you have to be as clear about your expectations as you can. In today’s episode, we outline some of the small changes that can make all the difference and share some of the shifts we implemented in our own team in order to transfer ownership and delegate, so make sure not to miss it!
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Why you need to transition from task-based activities to outcome-based activities for your team
We’ll start with what it’s like to move your team from a task-based team to setting expectations about owning and having autonomy over outcomes. This can be so pivotal! The people we see staying in the task-based environment are slowing down and it’s this transition that has changed really everything for us!
At the very beginning when this shift happened for us, our first step was to move from an all-contractor team to a team of employees. It all comes down to the fact that contractors are there to fulfill tasks. They are very rarely, if ever, there to achieve specific outcomes. They can fulfill specific outcomes in their specific department, or you could give them tasks that might help them reach a specific outcome, but YOU are the one responsible for making sure that those outcomes are achieved!
What you should never expect from contractors and the answer to why you might be feeling frustrated with their results
If you’re a business owner feeling frustrated by the burden of holding together all the stuff that moves your business forward, despite having a team, maybe you need to switch up who your team is now. If you’re sitting with a group of contractors, that’s what needs to change first. If you’re hiring a contractor, you are their client; you are not their boss.
Most of the time, hiring contractors instead of a team comes with good intentions, but if you’re going to put ownership on them for things that are yours to bear, it’s just going to cause tension and stress! You may very well end up in a situation where you hire some really impressive contractors who show all the signs of being a good employee; they do care, and they do involve themselves, which can be even harder to navigate.
So, what does it look like to create a team of ownership? Our first shift was to train staff on how we make decisions. Every time we would make a decision, we would have to pause, think about who would be making that decision in the future, and check that we were cluing them in on every step it took to arrive at that conclusion.
Initially, education will be constant! But eventually, other team members will be so clued in, that they’ll take the reins to pass on that information. When you transfer autonomy, you transfer ownership. Along the way, we needed to ask ourselves if we were clear in our communication on a regular basis but, after having delegated for much longer, our confidence has grown!
The spectrum from "Rise and Grind Hustle Culture" to "I've Removed Myself From Everything" and how to find a balance
Measuring effectiveness can be difficult. You can choose to measure according to how something feels or to measure according to what’s going in and what’s coming out, but we no longer believe that all metrics are quantifiable! Sometimes it’s less about achieving the end result and more about the effort to move towards something.
If you have employees who are not involved in the sales process, then there is no need for you to be disclosing all the revenue information. You need to consider someone’s role before you decide what to communicate with them. Your focus needs to be on creating outcomes for roles or departments. Giving people focus and clarity is one of the MOST productive things you can do! Creating these cultural shifts creates an environment where people feel safe enough to protect time in their day to get creative.
If you want to build, then you have to show up and do part of the work! If you don’t have hundreds of thousands of dollars you’re comfortable with losing at the start, then you have to contribute to the overall success of your company. If you want to make money and not be involved, then you need to sell your idea. Building a business serving other business owners is not a passive activity. If you’re passionate about this, show up as though you’re passionate about this! We agree that the rise and grind culture is unhealthy, but we don’t think that doing nothing is healthy either! The outcome is not the most important thing. The path you take to get there is.
Quote This
Contractors are there to fulfill tasks. They are very rarely, if ever, in a role and set up for success in order to create outcomes for your business.
Highlights
Why you need to transition from task-based activities to outcome-based activities for your team [0:03:29]
What you should never expect from contractors and the answer to why you might be feeling frustrated with their results [0:04:20]
The spectrum from "Rise and Grind Hustle Culture" to "I've Removed Myself From Everything" and how to find a balance [0:21:12]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
KEY TOPICS
Contractors, Employees, Task-based teams, Outcomes
