I often find that when I am frustrated someone is not doing what I want them to be doing or they are not doing a task how I would expect them to do it the reason is often because I have not clearly outlined my expectations for the person I have delegated the task to.

These are some good guidelines to keep in mind from the folks at e-myth:

If you keep doing all the little daily tasks that you’ve always done, then you’ll forever be trapped doing them and never free up the time to work on your business. If letting go of these tasks is a bit daunting (and sometimes it is, especially if you’ve always done it and have your particular way of doing it) then take gradual steps.

First, identify a task that you want to delegate.

Document the correct way to perform this task, step by step, including the quality control standards for each step. (At E-Myth we call this type of system document an Action Plan.)

Clearly specify the expected results of the delegated task. Give information on what, why, when, who, where and how.

Have someone follow your Action Plan. Maintain open lines of communication. Don’t micro-manage, but make sure that you are kept in the loop on progress and performance. Then revise your document until you are both comfortable with it.

Delegate the responsibility. When the new system document is ready, provide it to the employee responsible for that task, train them on how to successfully run this “system” and insert a copy of this process document into your company’s Operations Manual.

Repeat these steps on every task you wish to delegate.

Delegation is a critical component in the development of a business that is balanced and inclusive. It will help you discover the natural place for yourself, your managers and your staff.

I took this title from a blog post on the e-myth website. I don’t think it could be more fitting for a large majority of IT firms and their founders.

I always tell people that the thing that sets us apart the most from other firms is that our founder is a business person not a technical person running a business. If you have read e-myth or e-myth revisited this will make perfect sense to you and if you have not read either of these books stop everything you are doing and get yourself a copy of e-myth revisited.

Ask yourself if you have the systems, processes, and the people that would allow you to walk away from your business for a month and come back to it humming along with no problems.

If you don’t you should really start thinking about the ways you can create these things for yourself and your team.

This is part of the blog post that I thought captured the thinking of e-myth, what an entrepreneur is, and why you should be excited to be thinking about it:

One of the most radical changes you experience when you work with E-Myth is a shift in thinking; a change in how you approach your business.

Central to this approach, the E-Myth approach, is that you must learn to view your business as separate from you. We say this all the time, but it warrants repeating: you are not your business. Even if you are the one who actually drills the teeth or performs the exam, you must view your business as your end product. You can be a Technician and not be the business. If you don’t figure that out, you’ll never be able to get free of the business, to retire or — and this is where it gets good — only work when you want to.

When you realize that your business is your product, you can step outside of it and reinvent it. And this holds true for any Technician, from a chiropractor to a contractor, hair stylist to a baker… It all starts with a change in the way you think about your business; it starts with entrepreneurial thinking.

The Technician thinks: Time = Work = Money. I spend the time, I work hard and I earn money. To get more money, I work harder.

The Entrepreneur thinks: Time = Equity = Freedom. I spend the time, I build the equity of my business and I get free of the business. To get more freedom, I build more equity.

The Technician thinks: I do the work.

The Entrepreneur thinks: Someone else does the work.

You can find the entire post here:  e-myth post

Let me know how you plan on changing things in your organization to allow you to work more on the business.

Josh

In an economy like this, it’s prudent for all managed service providers to look at your expenses to determine where you can cut – even if you aren’t in any sort of financial trouble.  It’s much more fun to be proactive about this rather than being forced to be reactive!

But cutting expenses needs to be done thoughtfully and strategically, otherwise you risk “cutting to the bone” as they say, and starving your company of the resources it needs to be successful.

How to do this?  I read a newsletter article from the folks at the E-Myth today and thought is perfectly captured the key questions you need to ask yourself before cutting an expense:

1. Will you reduce your ability to compete effectively?
2. Will you reduce the quality of your product?
3. Will you reduce your client’s experience with your company?
4. Will you reduce the good will you have worked so hard to create?

If the answer to all of these questions is NO, then you can probably cut the expense and feel good about it.  If the answer to any of these questions is YES, you’d better be very careful.

You can read the full article here.

Mike Cooch

PS -Anyone that has spent any time with me talking about business knows that I’m a huge fan of the E-Myth.  If you haven’t read it yet, pick up a copy today – The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It – and get started. It’s a very quick and easy read, and it will change how you think about operating your company.

A comment on a previous post asked me to recommend the business books that have had the most influence on Everon. I wouldn’t dare pretend to have all of the answers, but I think this list has served me and Everon well as we’ve tried to build our IT services business, and would be a good part of any entrepreneur’s library.

Here goes:

E-Myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World Class Company – If you’ve ever been to one of my presentations, you know I’m a big fan of this one. Building a business that allows you to step out of the day-to-day requires processes, and this book teaches you how. On a side note, Arnie Bellini of Connectwise was kind enough to let me join him and others for a private lunch with Michael Gerber a few years ago when he spoke at Arnie’s Connectwise Summit – thanks Arnie!

The Great Game of Business – This is another one that should be taught in every business school but generally isn’t. It’s a great story and has fantastic lessons about how to engage your employees and run an “open” business.

Mastering the Rockefeller Habits: What You Must Do to Increase the Value of Your Growing Firm – Another book that should be taught at every business school but generally isn’t. Verne “The Growth Guy” Harnish boils down the successful habits Rockefeller used to run his companies and teaches you how to apply the practices to your business.

Killer Customers: Tell the Good from the Bad–and Dominate Your Competitors – This was the first book I read that made it clear that not all customers are desirable customers, which can be a tough thing to swallow for a customer service-oriented entrepreneur. Most importantly, it explains how to tell the difference between good ones and bad ones.

Patrick Lencioni Library (Five Temptations of a CEO; Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive; Five Dysfunctions of a Team; Death by Meeting) – Lencioni does a fantastic job of using simple short stories to teach important business lessons and then gives practical advice on how to implement what you just learned. These make for great quick reading assignments for your executive team!

Now, Discover Your Strengths – This is a fantastic book on finding and managing to your natural talents/strengths and those of the people that work for you. It gives you access to a highly regarded survey that determines your strengths – I was amazed at how accurate it seemed to be for everyone on our executive team.

Topgrading: How Leading Companies Win by Hiring, Coaching, and Keeping the Best People, Revised and Updated Edition – This is the HR system that was famously put to use by Jack Welch at GE. It provides a clear way of evaluating talent and making organizational decisions that raise the overall level of talent at a company.

How to Read a Financial Report: Wringing Vital Signs Out of the Numbers (How to Read a Financial Report) – This book may look elementary, but don’t be fooled. It’s the best explanation of the major financial statements and how to use them that I’ve ever seen. I’ve used it to teach financial literacy at Everon with great success.

New Venture Creation: Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century with Online Learning Center access card – I think this is the best book on how to analyze a business opportunity and write a business plan; much better than any other business plan books I’ve read. This is a newer version than the one I have, but I think it’s pretty much the same.

Jack: Straight from the Gut – Jack Welch has been called the “Tiger Woods of business” by Warren Buffett. This book was written by Jack himself, and is full of lessons on how to manage people and companies.

And finally, one resource that isn’t a book but I think is some of the most fascinating business reading around is the annual reports of Berkshire Hathaway, the company that Warren Buffett runs. I’ve never read anyone that can take the most complicated business lessons and turn them into easy-to-understand language like Buffett can. His annual reports are the only I’ve ever found that are actually worth reading. Be sure to read his “Owner’s Manual” as well – great stuff!

Full disclosure – I’ve included Amazon Associates links to each of them so if you end up buying them Josh and I will make our first Internet sale! If you do, we promise to hang a “our first sale” dollar in a frame like you see in restaurants and post a picture of it on the blog.

MRC

We spend a lot of time at Everon documenting and improving our processes in all areas of our business.  Over the years, it’s resulted in the creation of a “playbook” on how to run a managed services business that I’m sure is probably worth as much as Everon itself!

That being said, we almost never actually look at the whole playbook itself, certainly not in any printed form.  Why?  Because it is constantly changing and under development.  The value is in the process of creating it, not in having a final version at the end of the day.

The E-Myth newsletter just post an interesting post about how UPS is constantly improving their processes.  The post focuses on the fact that UPS went so far as to try to eliminate left turns from their driving habits because left turns take up too much gas!  How awesome is that?!

Every company has their version of “left turns”, some more obvious than others.  Are you taking the time to find yours?

MRC