Do You Delegate?

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Pulse

rainmaker
Apr 12, 2009
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Anyone else have a problem delegating work? Seems like the few times I have paid someone to do a project I end up going back and changing it at least a little. As a result of this I know a little about a lot of things, and I wonder if I'm wasting my time learning all these different programs and methods instead of delegating work to specialists and focusing on the larger picture.

What do you do?
 


I build my own sites...then delegate link building and future content updates to reliable people I know...
 
I very rarely hire anyone outside of myself, and that's probably a dumbass move; something I plan on evaluating and focusing on.

I design, I code, and I'm decent with traffic generation. But I really believe in order to step my game up to the next level, I'm going to have to at least hire others to handle the process of SEO / traffic in general.

I think there's a certain amount of inherent fear when it concerns relying on others for certain tasks, me being one - But I know I need to get over that, the dedicated work derived from paying another person / company will ultimately yield better results than what I'm able to achieve alone, in a most often half-assed manner.
 
I think it's important to delegate your own time just as efficiently as you do others. If you're trying to hawk $11 logo's on marketing forums all day (that's not directed at you dreamache) you're seriously fucking undervaluing yourself and making our industry as designers suffer... If you can use those same skills and make killer campaign material or do premium work for people (or your own offers), you'll bank way more.

Same applies to delegating to/with others. Let people do what they are best at, and you do the same - if you're not good at learning new systems or structures let someone else do it (properly). If you are shitty at copy or design, don't take shortcuts or you'll see the lack of effort reflected in your return.

I HATE hiring people, but it's a must, and when you do: Spend a good amount of time on the actual interview process. Filtering those fuckers is tough sometimes and can be daunting but you wouldn't believe how great a simple $400/month addition to your team doing your bitch work month to month can be. Just make sure there is never 'nothing' to do, and make them give you meticulous reporting.

.02.
 
ncmedia said:
If you're trying to hawk $11 logo's on marketing forums all day (that's not directed at you dreamache) you're seriously fucking undervaluing yourself and making our industry as designers suffer
Click to expand...

No, it's directed at leadsupplier lol.

But yeah, good points.
 
On the OP if you need to revise outsourced work then you are not making your instructions clear enough. But for me I always allow a little creative injection from those that I delegate work to.

You also have to look at this way. Did they save you time in the long run?
 
hyai

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:repuke:
 
I used to have problems delegating stuff, but its just a matter of skills. I dont know shit about coding, so I NEED to get other people to do it for me. But yeah, even then I'm still a pain in the ass if things dont look right (pixel perfect, alignment issues, etc.) and most of the time I actually do end up fixing the code myself.

I can't stand the slackness of other people, seriously I hate it and it's the ONLY thing that gives me stress about running a business. It's not dealing with douchebag clients or billing them, to me its actually organizing the right resources to make a solid project.


The perfect world would be in one where I can send something to get build and have it turn out up to my expectations. Anything less and I'm here going crazy and stressed out angry at the non-perfectionists that cant get stuff right.

But you know what, I think this only feel this way on the web world. I think the internet gives us this impressions that things will get done quickly and you will save time but it simply doesnt work that way. Its something you have to grew accostumed to.

I actually spend about 1-3 hours just writing an email and making calls on skype just to get some dude get things right, say a quick php code. But you cannot expect some dude to follow along with your expectations if he himself is not familiar with yours. He might be familiar with the expectation of some dude's business of selling full sites for $200 bucks. And cheap work is cheap work is cheap work. No other way around it.

Now, give me a staff to work with in person, people I have interviewd and know the way "I" work and you can be DAMN sure I will have things happen fast and all the problems/screw ups will be fixed with no place for BS.

It doesn't work that way if you are simply delegating stuff to the first dude you find that has the skills and knows how to speak USA English. He can code "The Matrix" for all you know, but if he isn't familiar with your work quality and perfectionism he simply will not go all the way for you.

Damn it, I am in the wrong industry.
 
DaBreadman - the slackness of other people is why they are doing it for you and not for themselves. I find it frustrating too; however, I recognize all the opportunity and security that it has provided for me since I know my competition is hiring slackers who specialize in meeting the minimum possible requirements. This applies in coding and marketing.
 
A word of thought here about delegating. You can go get a computer science degree, move to SF and get a job with a couple of years experience that'll pay around $120K/year. To a lot of people $120K/year might seem like a lot, but for very little risk it's not the hardest thing to pull off to earn $46/hr.

As they say though, with risk comes reward. So if you're planning on making a life for yourself that involves risk (like working for yourself) you should aim a little higher. A good number to pick would be say $500K/year, which means you are working for $192/hr.

Now lets compare the two. If you are worth $120K/year, that means if you pay someone $15/hr they better be finishing your work for you in no more than 3x the time it would take you to complete it. However if you value yourself as $500K then even if if it takes 12x longer to produce it then it's still worth your time to have someone else doing it.

Value yourself higher and learn not to micromanage.

Note: This doesn't apply to programmers like other types of work. Shit programmers aren't trainable. If a programmer sucks get rid of them and find someone better.
 
1. You have to hire key people and keep the good ones for as long as you can. Get rid of the riff raff.
2. You've got to be really extra super specific with what you want and even be willing to give documentation on how to do it if its a recurring project.
3. Don't stress the small stuff.
 
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