So many times I speak to my clients or business colleagues and they are overwhelmed with actions and activities.

In today’s ever fast moving business world we seem to have an ever increasing workload – in fact can you remember the last time when you had everything marked off your to-do list?

One of the challenges in leading your own practice is the fact that many times your personal input is required before your colleagues and team members can move ahead and take action.

But is it really required? Or are you holding up the process because you want to be engaged and involved in everything?

MAKING TIME FOR CLIENTS

One of my clients who is a lawyer realised that the only reason he was holding onto his clients files was that he thought he wanted to be engaged in everything to do with the client.

We evaluated what he really needed to be involved and engaged with and as if by magic, the majority of client files were able to be passed to his team members. This meant that he freed up a significant amount of hours each week which he then could use to spend time face to face with clients, meeting key business contacts and coaching his team.

Our ability to effectively delegate key tasks can make a significant difference to our success – for example serving a client efficiently and effectively or losing a client to the competition.

Building, inspiring and retaining a high performing team is one of the eight key strategies we cover in the “Biz Growth Academy” where we teach our clients how to build their corporate, employer and personal brand so they realise the professional and personal success they desire and deserve.

One of the key ways to retain great talent is in fact to ensure that they feel valued and their contribution to the business is recognised. But for this to happen, as a business leader we need to be able to be effective in delegating key responsibilities.

You can still retain accountability for business performance and growth. However by being clear who is responsible for key activities means there is clarity about what has to be done when.

DELEGATE ACCOUNTABILITY IN MEETINGS

As an example, I was drafting some minutes from a meeting today and in the template we defined what the action was, who it would be undertaken by and when it had to be completed.

That same template will be circulated prior to the next meeting for all team members to update and use as a way to track that each team member is on track with what they were required to complete.

THE RASCI TOOL

A simple tool I often use in delegating activities is the RASCI. This tool enables you to identify the key responsibilities for each team member or key stakeholder.

You will also find this an excellent tool when managing projects or leading change programmes.

Taking each item or task you define who is Responsible, Accountable, who can Support you, who needs to be Consulted and who needs to be Informed of the actions being taken. The definitions are as follows:

• Responsible [R] – This is the person or group responsible for performing a task. Ensure that you only assign responsibility to those necessary.
• Accountable [A] – This is the person who is held accountable for the task being complete. Ideally only one person should be accountable for a task being performed.  
• Support [S] – These are people or a group of people who provide resources required for a task to be completed.
• Consulted [C] – These are the people you actively engage with prior to a task being completed as their input is highly valued and they are key stakeholders and can significantly impact on your success. Essentially, their input is sought and factored in prior to any action being completed.
• Informed [I] – These are the parties who are notified about a task after it has been performed. Their input is not critical to the successful completion of the task.

THIS WEEK’S ‘BIZ GROWTH’ ACTION STEPS

• Consider the actions in your inbox. Do you need to be the person who is responsible AND accountable for delivery of that task?
• Who else could you engage in moving the project or action forward?
• How could you use the RASCI process to ensure greater clarity and accountability of key activities in your business and in turn enhance your ability to deliver excellence in service to your clients?

NOTE: Every Monday on “Biz Growth News” I make available a full length branding and business development article.

If you enjoyed our weekly article, you may be interested in accessing more articles about branding and business development strategies to grow your practice. If so you can register to join our weekly newsletter and weekly no-cost workshops at Biz Growth Live.

TERMS OF REPRINT: You are welcome to publish this article in your own online ezine or news letter, providing the article is printed in its entirety and is left unedited and you include the copyright notice and the following statement:

©Krishna De, Oneocean Ltd 2007. All rights reserved. Reprinted from ‘Biz Growth News’ (http://www.bizgrowthnews.com/), a Oneocean Ltd publication for leaders in professional services practices, featuring inspiration, strategies and tips to build your brand, attract your ideal clients and enjoy greater success with less stress.  Subscribe today at http://www.bizgrowthlive.com/.

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