“How Do You Get It All Done?”

I love getting your email replies. Sometimes I get dozens. Other times, I might have one or two. But for 15+ years of writing the Weekly Report each and every week, I always get some sort of feedback.

The question I get most often is “How do you get it all done?” I usually smile and reply that it takes “a LOT of coffee.” But the truth is, I have a few secrets up my sleeve.

1. Hire The Right People. 
2. Delegate.

Hiring the right people takes time and energy and creativity. It’s a lot of work. I try to find smart folks who can work independently…we train them how to do things and then I leave them alone. If there’s a problem, I want to see how they handle it. Most of the time, if you hire problem solvers, they will solve the problem themselves.

Delegating is the other secret. Truth is, I can’t get it all done. It takes a team of people to accomplish our company goals. When people work hard, communicate efficiently, and then work as a team, there’s no stopping them.

Most business leaders get bogged down in the details because their thinking is flawed. “If I want something done right, I need to do it myself.” This kind of thinking is absolutely detrimental to the bottom line and the culture. If you do the task for your employees, they can never learn how to do it correctly. If you don’t trust them to do the task, they’ll ask themselves “Why am I here if the boss is just going to do it?” And finally, if the work is all concentrated at the top of the company pyramid, productivity slows to a crawl.

About 10 years ago, I completely re-structured Madison+Main. I gave myself an honest assessment of what I do well and what I do poorly. I took myself out of the things I did not want to do or have the capacity to do, and then I gave those duties and responsibilities to others. It worked.

Two years ago, I hired a virtual assistant, Leigh, with Red Pen Virtual Assistants. Red Pen provides virtual assistants to companies. And those VAs are all teachers, former teachers, and school administrators. Leigh is awesome. She gets the mail and processes invoices and logs them into our accounting system. She also helps with billing, scheduling, and other administrative stuff. She gets it all done in 5-10 hours a week, saving me and the staff 25 hours a week. If you’re a busy business owner and you can’t get it all done, call Red Pen (804) 781-4412. Or click here to see their stellar line-up of high-quality VAs.