From Owner to CEO: The OBM's Delegation Guide

How do you go from being an owner to a CEO in your business? One of the most important steps is to begin strategically delegating responsibilities. 

Let’s make it less scary by talking through what it would look like to have an Online Business Manager (OBM) partner with you to delegate effectively. Your OBM will act as a:

Strategic Delegation Advisor

By working closely with you, your OBM will understand your goals, your vision, and your strengths and weaknesses. They can identify which tasks and responsibilities are suitable for delegation. 

Task Assessment and Prioritization

Your OBM will evaluate your team to learn each member’s skills, roles, and strengths. They can then make sure each team member is matched with tasks that align with their abilities. This ensures that you maintain a team with greater productivity and job satisfaction.

Team Manager 

By monitoring the progress of delegated tasks, your OBM will make sure your team will hit benchmarks and deadlines. They can spot issues early and provide constructive feedback when necessary. This process maintains a high level of customer service standards.

Process Improvement Expert

Your OBM will analyze your existing processes and workflows to identify areas for improvement. They document and organize tasks to create a system of consistency and scalability. 

Tech Integrator

Your OBM will identify and integrate the best tech and tools for your team. This may include project management software, communication tools, or automation systems. Your business will benefit from these integrations with increased operational efficiency.

Sound amazing? Here’s how you and I would implement delegation effectively, step by step:

Identify and Offload the 1st Priority Task

You and I will pinpoint the most critical tasks and responsibilities that need to be offloaded from your to-do list. (Think time-consuming, or requiring specialized skills that you or your team currently lack.)

We’ll create a custom implementation plan for each task. This document will include assigning the right task to the right team member, setting clear expectations, and establishing project timelines. 

I will oversee the initial steps of delegation, ensuring that each team member receives proper training and resources to excel in their new role. 

Offload the 2nd Priority Task

Just as with the first task, we will take a personalized approach. We’ll consider the unique needs and challenges of the task as we create a plan to delegate.

Together, we’ll identify any adjustments needed based on the lessons learned from the first round of delegation. This process will ensure better efficiency.

I’ll provide ongoing support and address any issues so that the implementation progresses smoothly and meets your business goals.

Offload the 3rd Priority Task

Again, we will customize the task. We’ll have the benefit of the two previous tasks to refine the delegation process. 

I’ll provide guidance and feedback as before to both you and your team members. 

The aim is to make these transitions as seamless as possible with minimal disruption to your business operations. 

At the end of this delegation journey, we schedule a call to debrief. This is an opportunity for you to provide feedback on the delegation process.

We’ll review the outcomes, assess the impact on your workload and operations, and identify areas for further improvement.

With the help of your valuable feedback, I will create a plan for implementing additional opportunities for improvement that may have emerged during the delegation process.

After 90 days

It’s important to recognize that delegation is an evolving process that grows along with your business. My role as your OBM will extend beyond the initial 90 days.

I will continue to provide support through Slack for 30 days after implementation so that you and your team have a safety net as you settle into the new workflow. 

Ultimately, the goal of my OBM services is to optimize your business for the long-term, allowing you to focus on your vision, expand your business, and achieve a better work-life balance. 

Next, let’s dive into the benefits of having an OBM as your ongoing strategic partner.

Continuing Support and the OBM Advantage

Like I said, delegation isn’t a one-and-done endeavor; it’s a continuous journey of optimizing your business operations for long-term success.

Many clients choose to extend our collaboration so that I can support their ongoing needs. 

Extending Our Partnership

With an extended partnership, I will continue to manage your teams, projects, and operations. This allows you to maintain the momentum of business growth without getting bogged down by day-to-day management tasks.

Customized Solutions and Upgrades

As your business evolves, so do your needs. I will stay attuned to your business’s changing dynamics and offer customized solutions proactively plus recommendations for future upgrades.

Whether it’s integrating new technology, expanding your team, or optimizing existing processes, I’ll make sure your business is able to adapt to industry trends and opportunities.

Seamless Business Scaling

Scaling your business is a natural progression and I’ll be there to ensure a smooth and controlled expansion. With me optimizing your processes and team management, you’ll be able to take on more clients, explore new opportunities, and reach higher revenue milestones without added stress.

Strategic Planning and Future Growth

Once your day-to-day operations are effectively managed, you’ll have the bandwidth to focus on strategic planning and business development. Together, we’ll set long-term goals, develop growth strategies, and research innovative opportunities that will position your business for sustainable success.

Holistic OBM Services

My role as your OBM provides a holistic approach to business organization and management. Through process improvement, tech integration, team alignment, and strategic guidance, I offer a comprehensive suite of services to optimize every aspect of your business operations.

To summarize, having an OBM as your strategic partner offers ongoing support that extends well beyond the initial delegation phase. It empowers you to:

• Focus on your CEO role

• Achieve a better work-life balance

• Scale your business

• Plan for future growth

Our partnership will adapt to your evolving needs to ensure that your business will thrive in today’s ever-changing landscape. 

If you’re ready to experience the advantages of OBM services, reach out to me and we’ll talk about how I can support your business’s continued growth and success.

The Power of Delegation: Scaling Your Business with an Online Business Manager

You can’t do it alone. And when I say “it,” I mean your business. Whether it’s one task or many, you need to delegate in order to focus on the growth of your business.

To “delegate,” as a business owner, means to give tasks to someone you trust so that you can focus on money generating activities.

If you want to delegate the delegation, hire an Online Business Manager. An OBM will be your strategic partner who guides the delegation process, provides clear communication, and monitors progress.

Why go through this process at all? If you want to grow your wonderful business, your team will need you to be in the CEO role and you can’t be there if you’re still managing everything. 

You will need to be able to trust that your team can handle the tasks you delegate. 

If you have a busy team, you will need someone to help them prioritize and stay on track. An Online Business Manager (OBM) can manage your team and projects, keeping your operations flowing smoothly. 

An OBM can manage your team by:

• Checking in daily to make sure each team member will meet their deadlines or if not, to see what they need to complete their work

• Problem solving so that both you and your team can focus on your work without the interruption that comes from a tech issue, etc. 

• Heading off future issues by creating systems

• Training team members in the skills they need to become more efficient

• Managing projects and making sure your team hits their benchmarks and goals

• Creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) so that a task can be repeated efficiently

The delegation dilemma

It can be difficult for a business owner to delegate. 

They might think, “In the time it takes for me to explain how to do this task, I could have done it already. I’ll train my team another day.” You’re right. It takes time to train someone to the point where they can thoroughly understand how to complete a task.

A business owner might wonder if they can trust a team member to complete a task regularly and without prompting. 

They might feel like the months of answering questions and assisting someone with a shaky knowledge of a task will be too stressful because they’ll be worrying constantly about the accuracy of the task.

All of these things are possibilities. However, spending several months training a member of your team to understand and complete a task with precision will be worth it in the end.

At that point, you will have added time to your schedule that you can use to do the things that only you can do, like write a book, reach out to prospects, create a course, and speak at a conference. These activities will help scale your business in a way that the task you just handed off never could.

I knew a business owner who opted not to delegate. What happened? Well, COVID happened. They got sick and their business shut down for a couple weeks. 

Another business owner hadn’t been on vacation in years. They were afraid of trusting someone with important tasks while they were away so they just stayed put. 

Imagine the pressure these folks were under. There wasn’t anyone they could turn to in an emergency and the health of their business rested on their shoulders. 

Wouldn’t you want to avoid this kind of stress at all cost?

Why delegation matters

Delegation is crucial for online service-based business owners with small teams.  it provides the ability to:

Increase Client Satisfaction

With an online business, everything moves faster, which means you must provide faster service in order to remain competitive. Sure, you’ve automated some tasks, but it’s that human touch that makes your clients feel special. By delegating, you will ensure that your clients receive the highest level of service, which will lead to increased rates of client satisfaction and retention.

Focus on Core Strengths

Your unique skill set brought your business to life and helped it flourish. By delegating tasks that are not within your core strengths, you will have the energy and time for activities that directly contribute to the growth of your business.

Scale

Delegating tasks to a team will allow you to take on more clients while providing the same level of service. You will also ensure that the team workload remains manageable. 

Plan Strategically

Delegation will free up time for strategic planning and business development. You’ll be able to set long-term goals, develop growth strategies, and explore new opportunities.

Enhance Work-Life Balance

Delegating to a team will help you reduce your workload so you can spend more time with your family, pursue a hobby, or simply rest.

The Online Business Manager’s Role in Delegation

You may be wondering, “How does an Online Business Manager fit into all of this?”

Strategic Delegation Advisor

Your OBM will help you figure out which tasks and responsibilities can be effectively delegated. 

Task Assessment and Prioritization

By assessing tasks with your OBM, you will be able to categorize them by priority, complexity, and strategic importance. This way, the most critical tasks will receive attention while non-critical tasks can be sorted for delegation.

Team Alignment

Your OBM will evaluate the alignment of the skills, strengths, and roles of your team members. They will ensure that each individual is assigned tasks that match their abilities, maximizing efficiency, productivity, and job satisfaction. 

Monitoring and Feedback

Since your OBM is constantly monitoring the progress of delegated tasks, they can provide constructive feedback to team members and maintain a high-quality standard. They will track benchmarks and deadlines so that projects are completed on time.

Process Improvement

Your OBM will be proactive in analyzing processes so that delegated tasks are documented and well organized.

Tech Integration

Your OBM will find the best tools to support your team and make the delegation process easier. The implementation of a project management platform, communication platform, and automation tools will improve team efficiency and consistency.

Long-Term Benefits of OBM Services

At this point, you may be thinking, “This is a lot of information, Stef. Just give me the bottom line.”

An OBM will be your strategic partner who guides the delegation process, provides clear communication, and monitors progress. They will contribute to process improvement, tech integration, and empower your team. 

The bottom line: Your OBM will optimize your business and provide you with a better work-life balance.

If you’re interested in learning more about OBM services, email me. I’d love to learn about your business and answer your questions.