David Cummings on Startups

Eliminate the Trivial Work and Delegate Tasks

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David Cummings

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Last week I was talking to an entrepreneur that was lamenting how he has to filter all the resumes that come in for a new position they just created. Inquiring further, I found out that he has 26 employees, has been in business for almost a decade, and is growing at low double digits each year. After hearing this, I asked why he’s still filtering resumes and screening candidates. He thought about it for a second and said that he still does it because he’s always done it since the beginning. Hmm, I thought, tasks like that should be handed off so as to focus on the areas of highest value.

Here are a few thoughts on eliminating trivial work and delegating tasks:

  • Go on vacation for two weeks and require that someone else do all your standard tasks
  • Think about every task that isn’t strategic and assign it as a responsibility to someone else
  • Find an ambitious up-and-comer in your organization and hand off some of the “harder” tasks to him/her
  • Spend a week jotting down everything that you spend time on, review it, and decide on what you should start/stop/continue doing

Making the entrepreneurial transition from working in the business to working on the business takes time and is often uncomfortable. An easy process is to slowly relinquish all trivial tasks that are readily accomplish by another team member.

What else? What are some other thoughts on eliminating trivial work and delegating more tasks?

Comments

One response to “Eliminate the Trivial Work and Delegate Tasks”

  1. Dave Williams Avatar
    Dave Williams

    David, I love your comment on taking a vacation for 2 weeks! Back in the 360i days my business partner and I swore by this. And, the amazing thing was there was always something incredible that would happen when one of us went away, usually a new big account. It was like a sign from above! Who would have thought! So, after awhile we would always be excited for our time away. And, with 360i later on and then Blinq, I would refer to this as a great way to “test the business model”. I even recommend taking this a step further and go somewhere where there is no internet or cell service- no conference calls, emails, etc. preferring to take outdoor adventure trips with companies like REI Adventures! A great way to “test the business model” and see how the company performs on its own, and management step up in your absence. Ultimately, the exit value of the company is more if it can function without you anyway. So, test the business model and the success of your business on its own as it will only increase valuation and quality of life. And, in my mind there is no one that is better at creating self sustaining business than David Cummings. Just stop by his office, look how clean his desk is, and see how relaxed he is. He really walks the talk and I have taken inspiration from this dating back to our meeting in 2007 when I visited his office and saw this in operation first hand. I couldn’t believe it and this is when he told me he could go away from 3 months and the business would be fine. I couldn’t believe it at first, but it was an eye opener for me vs my short 2 week stints!

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