Take a look at your daily tasks that are on your schedule. How many of them are redundant, repetitive tasks that you should be passing off to someone else so you can spend your time doing what you do best? Then, why do you keep doing these things yourself?
A group of business people were asked this same question, and the answers they gave broke down into three basic themes:
- Nobody else knows how to do it.
- I don’t think it will be done right.
- It takes too long to train someone.
However, the real reasons for these statements are the following:
- I haven’t looked for anyone to do it.
- I am a control freak.
- I’m not sure if I am able to explain to someone how to do it.
Sometimes we get so stuck in the tedious tasks in performing the duty that we really don’t have time to train someone. There is a simple way around this. Use video to train the people. But, if I don’t have time to train someone, then how will I have time to make a video? That’s the easy part. The next time you perform the task, film yourself performing the task. Or, if it is something you do on the computer, use a product such as WebEx or GoToMeeting, and then record the session. Then, the next time the task is to performed, watch them perform the task. After that, turn them loose, and then you can spend that time working on expanding your business.
The first step is to decide what you want to outsource or pass on to your employees. Especially in the beginning, these are things to consider as you start to pass tasks off to others:
- Boring and repetitive.
- You would skip the task if you were busy.
- It is something worth doing, but it is really beneath your pay grade.
Now you just need to find someone you trust to take over the task from you. It is also a good idea to make up checklists for the major tasks that need to be accomplished. This will go along to reinforce the video training and serve as a reminder to people as they perform their duties.
When creating videos, keep in mind that people will not pay attention to your epic presentation. We are not creating a four hour blockbuster. The patience of most people for these types of training videos in generally less than a half hour. You will be much better served to create 10-15 minutes videos, even if training will require multiple videos. They will retain more information if you do it this way, and you will be happier with the result.
You can also use these short video presentations as a marketing tool on your site once you are comfortable with making videos. You will be surprised at how much they can impact your bottom line.
Roy Randolph
Head Hostmaster
