Delegation is the #1 Skill you need to learn this year

Like many of you, I have been attending webinars every week on topics for our post Covid world. Yesterday I attended one sponsored by U.S. Travel’s National Council of Attractions ( I am a former board member). The presentation included a report by  Douglas Quimby of Arival with survey results from tourism professionals. There was one slide that stood out for me. 52% of respondents said they would be bringing back less than half of the staff they had before COVID.

PPT slide
Thanks to Douglas Quimby of Arival

Our workplaces will be different

Many of you will be heading back to workplaces with fewer staff. But there will not be less work – there will be more meetings, more decisions, and more changes that will have to be made on the fly and implemented. You are going to be asked to do more with less.

For my self employed friends, your situation will be similar. What worked for you previously and brought in new business will probably not work anymore. You will need to focus on the big picture strategy changes and not get bogged down in making small decisions and doing all the work.  This is why I think learning how to delegate is going to be the #1 tool for success this year.

No one teaches us to delegate.

Delegation skills are not taught in school, or in college. In fact, the U.S. culture is all about doing it yourself, pulling yourself up by the bootstraps and working 24/7. That’s not effective, and it’s a badge of honor that will only increase your stress and decrease your enjoyment of life.

And I am right there with you. I am a self-admitted Type A person who likes to have control and doesn’t mind spinning lots of plates in the air. So I am a work in progress. But I am learning and see that delegating can give you back your life and help others develop as well.

We are at a time in history unlike any other, and in order for our Tourism businesses to survive this challenge, we have to do things differently.

Clockwork -Trash, Trim or Transfer principle

I am reading Clockwork by Mike Michalowicz. His business books are easy to read and he shares lots of resources. Clockwork is about setting up your business to run ‘like Clockwork’ and allow you to step out of the daily decision making. While this book is written for business owners, there is one strategy that everyone can implement- called Trash, Trim or Transfer.

Trash

This refers to activities that don’t bring in revenue or move your business forward. Stop doing them. A lot of the busy work we create for ourselves is just that. Commit to trashing one activity that takes away valuable time. You have no time to waste anymore.

Trim

Can this activity be done in less time or with less cost? If you have regularly scheduled meetings, can you shorten them? That one act alone can buy you back hours of your week.

Transfer

Here is the tough one – transferring tasks off your plate and to others. But learning how to do this will be key to finding success. Everything has changed – this is a great time to develop your delegation muscles.

And before you say- “That might work for others, but it would never work for me”, read this article on Self Limiting beliefs that you might be using to hold yourself back.

 

There is no one to delegate to

Yes there is. If you change your mindset to ‘I am going to find someone that I can delegate tasks to’, you will start thinking of people. Maybe a frontline staffer who shows interest in learning more? Maybe someone that has approached you about an internship?

I have written posts on hiring for virtual help. Check out these posts:

Using Upwork and Fiverr for your Tourism Business

Need help growing your Tourism Business? Try Upwork

How I delegate- An example

I love writing blog posts, but they take time. Between coming up with an idea, writing multiple drafts, finding photos, adding links and spell checking, each post takes between 4-5 hours. I knew this was going to be a problem long term so I started thinking of ways to delegate this task. Both Upwork and Fiverr feature people who had experience writing blog posts.

I realized quickly that if you aren’t in the tourism industry, it’s hard to write about it. I wasn’t able to use the work I had paid for. My next thought was to reach out to someone in the industry who also has a blog. My friend Catherine Heeg has a weekly blog about social media in Tourism so we started exchanging posts every few months. It has been a great partnership project for both of us and it saves us each several hours of work each month.

My next idea was to reach out to wise and wonderful peers in the industry and have them answer a standard series of questions and call it Tourism Pro Talks. I try to feature one interview a month which is another way of me delegating my blog work- and getting to highlight my friends!

Final Thoughts

What got us where we are today is not what will get us into the future. By learning how to delegate better and more often, you will be able to focus on the opportunities that will emerge from this crisis.

How can I help you in June 2020?

 

DMO’s – Are you looking for ways to provide some value to your members during this time? Would you like to offer a free webinar that I will host?  Join organizations such as

Your organization can choose from “Continue your Career from your Couch” or “5 Steps to get More Group Tours”. I offer 3 spots a month for free webinars – and there are still 2 spots in June and 2 in July. Hit reply to this email and let’s get you scheduled!

My Online Tourism Training Program helps DMOs/CVBs educate their partners in this changing environment. Partners can join from their homes or offices, and all the webinars are recorded so you can build a resource library and increase professionalism. I would be honored to help your destination!

 

Tourism Pro Academy

Are you looking for some articles and resources to increase your professionalism? Are you new to the industry and trying to find a place where you can pick up some more knowledge? Then head over to Tourism Pro Academy. There are free articles and resources, along with online courses and ways to work with me. Click here to sign up for free access!

Can I ask a favor?

Could you share this post with at least 2 of your colleagues who would benefit from reading it? And then they can sign up here to receive my posts directly to their inbox. Thank you! [See how I am delegating here?!?!]

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