Behind every successful small business is a powerhouse team which is typically composed of a handful of team members. 

Now, what happens when the business grows? Well, the workload increases. 

This means the business owner will have to personally take on the workload or distribute the additional tasks to the current team members. However, adding more tasks to the team’s plate and business owner’s plate could lead to poor outputs and dissatisfied customers. 

So, how do you address this? 

The best approach is to understand how to delegate effectively so that the performance of the team won’t be compromised. 

Here are 6 steps you need to remember when delegating work to your new team member.

1. Know to whom you should delegate. Finding the right person to do the work is no easy task. You need to be clear of what attributes you are looking for in a person before you proceed with the hiring process. It is also important to know the person’s strengths and weaknesses as it will help you assess if he or she can take on the delegated tasks upon joining the company.
2. List the responsibilities you are delegating. It’s best to delegate tasks gradually. Preparing a list of tasks, in order of importance, will allow you to formulate a timeline of what tasks to assign first. Perhaps you can start with the easier tasks. As the team member gets familiar with the workflow, assign more complex tasks. The goal is to not make learning a new task or taking on additional responsibilities overwhelming for the team member,
3. Inform the team member why you are delegating the task. When the team member you are delegating to knows the objective, it creates a sense of accountability and he or she will realize the value of the responsibility he or she has taken for the success of the company.
4. Teach the new team member how to do the delegated task. As the new team member takes on new responsibilities, it’s important to patiently teach him or her how to do the task based on the company standard operating procedures. You can either do the teaching yourself, or you can delegate to someone to oversee the team member’s learning. 
5. Provide resources to finish the delegated task. Assigning a task without providing the resources is inefficient and will only cause problems in the long run. As the business owner you need to ensure that the team member is fully equipped with the tools to do the work. 
6. Set a deadline. This gives the team member the opportunity to strategize on how to accomplish the task within a given timeframe. 

Delegating work to your team members involves choosing the right talent to handle the task. Use these 6 steps as your guide to grow your business and gain time freedom.