Freeing Yourself from Operational Tasks

“Gwen, can you work with my team? I still have to do too much myself.”

Do you recognize that? It’s a common question from directors of (usually) rapidly growing organizations. Now that you’re reading this: what do you think? Is it the team’s fault? Or is it the leaders’? Or is it a combination?

The Proactive Entrepreneur

It’s no coincidence that the organization grew rapidly and changed. Different challenges come with different stages.

The proactive entrepreneur drags and pulls the company with a clear vision of the future (for him or her). Employees are hired, and in a new phase, employees who no longer fit the current company culture leave.

New employees – from top to bottom – need to get to know the organization, the culture, and the procedures. That requires time and attention. Too often, based on previous experiences, it is assumed that someone quickly adapts to a new organization. It’s often the proactive entrepreneur and/or director who says, “I still have to do too much myself. Can you work with my team?”

How to Free Yourself from Operational Tasks?

In this new phase, it often comes down to different behavior, a different way of communicating by the leader(s). And of course, it may also be that the team needs support, such as team coaching. After all, the team also needs to adjust to a changing organization.

Many leaders I work with have a few recurring themes. And a very important one is “How do I free myself from the operational tasks?” Below, I give you 5 important points that will help you free yourself from operational tasks and prevent you from continuing to say, “I still have to do too much myself.”

1. Coach Your Employees

   New employees are hired based on their experience and character, among other things. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re productive in your organization from day one. Whether it’s a colleague director or manager or an employee: everyone needs to familiarize themselves with the organization, the culture, colleagues, and procedures. And they need help with that.

   Don’t let your new employee ‘sink’, with all the consequences that entails! Provide assistance and take the time to coach. Yes, coaching, taking time for your employee, takes time. And you’ll earn it back double!

2. Strengthen Self-Solving Ability

   One of the challenges leaders often face is the many questions employees come with. Where can I find something? How should I do this? What is this procedure? You name it. One of my clients describes it as follows: “I’m cleaning up messes all day long, I don’t get to lead.”

   This will continue if you (quickly) provide an answer to every question. This works easiest and fastest for you as a leader and (often) for the one with the most experience. STOP THIS! You are conditioning your employees in a way that doesn’t help them or you. Ask them questions and teach them to think for themselves about a solution. Ask them, for example, to come up with a (possible) solution or a few solutions before asking you for advice.

3. Let Go, Delegate, and Monitor

   Letting go sounds easy, but it requires a gradual process. Why do I write that?

   One of my clients – an entrepreneur – took it quite literally. He hired an operational director and said, “From now on, you must lead the organization. I have to let go.” The new director got started vigorously, worked hard, but it didn’t go well. When you start delegating as a leader, you have to continue monitoring. And if things are going well, you can gradually let go more and more.

4. Build Systems

   If a problem or situation occurs more than once: build a system. Or have a system built. This prevents duplicate work. And keep it simple. I think of an instruction, a checklist, a template.

5. Focus on Strategy and Innovation

   As an entrepreneur, as a leader, your most important strength is probably in shaping the strategy and perhaps also in innovation. You need space, overview, and peace for that. It doesn’t work if you’re still heavily involved in operations.

   If you focus on strategy and innovation, you become aware of whether you have enough time for that and what is still in your way.

So: free yourself from operational tasks and explore how you can be less and less involved in operations. This way, you slowly develop your organization towards more self-management and ultimately towards self-managing teams.

Want to learn more about leading rapidly growing organizations? Order my book “My Best Team Ever! In 7 Steps to Golden Leadership”. Or make an appointment to (freely) discover which steps you can take.

You can order the book HERE. It’s also available as an e-book and audiobook.