If They Don’t Do It Right, I Can Just Do It Myself

“If they don’t do it right, then I can just do it myself.”  I’ve said and heard that phrase a hundred times (at least). But I’m convinced that replacing a low performing team member with yourself (the owner of the business) is a bad idea in the long run.

You need a team — a team that gets it. And that starts with you.

In a recent survey by eVoice, 90% of the 400 small business participants say they fill more than 3 roles within their company. Even though that’s a small survey audience, the results make sense to me. When it’s your company you do whatever you have to do to make it work.

As small business owners it’s easy to wear too many hats. But how much is too much?  When it comes to building a business that has the potential to outlast you, the less hats you wear the better. But that’s easier said than done.  The goal is to replace yourself on as many aspects of the daily grind as you can, so that you have more time for the strategy work (and a life). Maybe the real statement is:

“If they don’t do it right, then I can find a better team member—if I have to.”

If your computer breaks down, you don’t go back to strictly pen and paper. You go through a process:

• you bang on the keys to see if that makes it work
• you call tech support to see if they can fix it
• you buy a new upgraded version of your computer

When it comes to your team, do the same thing:

• talk to them to see if you can fix the relationship
• call in other key team members and get feedback on how it’s going and how to move forward
• if the relationship doesn’t improve (i.e. the employee doesn’t perform well on your team or the contractor doesn’t deliver) then it’s time to make an upgrade

As small business owners, you need help. The more successful you are, the more help you will need. As you build a team, here’s a few quick things to keep in mind.

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Get Clear About What You Want

Every team member has a job to do. Get crystal clear about what that job is and what the expectations and the time frames are.

Gather A Team To Help You Accomplish Those Goals

Look for passion and ability, because angry and indifferent people with skills are a challenge to work with.

Grade Their Impact

Find a way to measure the work your team does for you.  This way you can hold them accountable and remember their value to your business.  When you hire a Virtual Assistant (or traditional assistant), decide what you want. Will they post all your online articles, manage your WordPress website and send out your press releases? If so, how many press releases do you want created and distributed each quarter and how many articles do you want posted each month?

If it’s a marketing person, then define your goals. Do you expect more twitter followers or Facebook fans? Do you expect more traffic to your website? Do you expect to better convert the traffic that you already get?

Standards give you a way of measuring the relationship so that you can tell what works and what doesn’t.

In the eVoice survey, 95% of the participants say that they would pay at least $100 for one more productive hour in their work day. That $100 can buy products, software or time including a consultation session to help you gain a new perspective and some hours from a virtual assistant to help you manage old and new ideas.

Get help – now.

Wearing Many Hats Photo via Shutterstock

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