How To Use An Executive Concierge Company and Delegate Like a Pro

Partnering with an executive concierge company can help you get better at one of the most difficult requirements of a life well-lived: Delegation.

Whether it’s in their personal lives or their corporate lives, most people are terrible at delegating tasks—though they understand the benefits of delegation and know they should be doing it more. According to Forbes, even most C-level managers don’t feel as though they are effective delegators, and they’ve been trained and hired to delegate well. In fact, only 30% of managers consider themselves to be good delegators, while subordinates rate only one out of every ten managers as effective delegators.

Despite the difficulty, honing your delegation skills is worth it. The payoffs include greater levels of happiness, less stress, better health, and greater productivity, to name just a few. Of course delegation is hard, because it’s more than a process, it’s an entire attitude and mindset makeover. Fortunately, you don’t have to go it alone. Our executive and personal concierges are experts at walking clients through the delegation process, building trust and comfort, and helping clients achieve beautiful outcomes.

Five Steps for Successful Delegation

Figure Out the What Before the How

It’s difficult to have a full understanding of the how or the who of delegation before you know the what. Many of our clients first come to us stuck on this step—and they feel overwhelmed. They want to use executive concierge services, but they aren’t sure which tasks they should delegate and which they should do for themselves. While we believe that you should prioritize your happiness by delegating as much as possible, it’s perfectly natural to struggle with this step. Our brains are wired to focus on the most pressing items on our list, which are not always the most important tasks or the ones that only we can complete. Jenny Blake, the author of the best-selling business productivity book PIVOT: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, suggests keeping a task tracker for two weeks, writing down any tasks you complete that fall into the ‘Six T’ Categories. Are you doing tasks that are Tiny, Tedious, Time-Consuming, Teachable, Terrible, or Time-Sensitive? Stop. Take a deep breath and start delegating.

Start Small

If you’re afraid to delegate, you’re not alone. Delegating feels scary for most people. Let’s face it—delegating is tough because it means learning to let go, whether that means letting go of control, letting go of perfectionism, or letting go of the way you’ve always done things. At Monogram Concierge, we’ve heard every excuse in the book when it comes to avoiding delegation. Delegating takes too much time. Delegating is too risky. I like taking a break from more important work to complete these smaller tasks. The truth is, failing to delegate is often a fancy way to procrastinate, putting off what really matters for the tyranny of the urgent. Eventually, in theory, anything that you can delegate you should delegate. But, for now, start small. Maybe choose one of the “T’s” above, let go of that area, and see how it feels. We’re willing to bet that, once you shift your mindset, you’ll love how delegation feels and start looking for other areas where you can hand tasks off to someone else.

Find a Person, or a Team, That You Trust

It makes sense that your willingness to delegate is only as strong as the capabilities of the people you delegate to. Trust is essential to a solid partnership—and something that we establish right away and develop further over time at Monogram Concierge. We fully vet all of our executive and personal concierges, and we only work with licensed and insured contractors and service providers. Monogram concierges also take pride in getting to know clients well, finding out all needs and preferences, building a deep rapport, and learning how to guide and consult with clients. Plus, in addition to your dedicated personal concierge, you’ll also have access to a full team of expert support personnel who can fulfill time-sensitive or last-minute requests. The biggest benefit of a reliable team: As you delegate small tasks successfully, you develop your capacity to delegate, making you more likely to delegate bigger, more complicated tasks in the future.

Communicate What Success Looks Like

Too often, when people attempt to delegate, the process breaks down in the communication stage. We believe this happens because most people spend too much time focused on communicating the task, including minute details, and too little time talking about what success looks like to them. Monogram concierges are great at details, but they’re even better at strategic thinking, consulting, and getting you the result that you want. When you first partner with Monogram Concierge, we’ll spend about 30 to 45 minutes helping you assess your current To Do List and talking about what a beautiful life looks like to you. What gives you peace of mind? What makes you feel in control? What makes you feel rich? What makes you feel successful? Knowing these things will help us customize your concierge services and will help you become a better delegator.

Reassess Regularly

Once you have the what, the who, and the how in place, be sure to reassess your progress regularly. We recommend a review with your concierge at least every quarter to find out if there are any other tasks we can automate for you or any other areas of your life that are weighing you down unnecessarily. Remember, the ultimate goal is to delegate as much as possible and focus on the things that only you can do. You may want to look at what’s on your plate as often as every week or even every day as you’re first learning how to delegate—which is why your concierge will reach out every morning with one simple, elegant question: “What can I do for you today?”  

Proponents of delegation claim that learning to delegate increased their productivity and profitability more than any other practice they’ve developed. Whether you see your income skyrocket as a result of delegating more or find that you simply feel less stressed and have more time to yourself on the weekends, be sure to celebrate your success. Rewarding yourself for learning to delegate, perhaps by taking a well-planned vacation with your family or spending more time on a hobby that you love, will cement the practice in your mind, turning it into a habit rather than a chore.

Contact Monogram Concierge for a complimentary consultation. We believe we’re the affordable luxury you won’t be able to live without.