I’ve been managing my business for 7 years now. All these years I didn’t realize I was working in my business, not on it. I was self-employed. Why? Because of a constant flow of requests from my team. I couldn’t do anything without being interrupted. I was dealing with routine tasks and almost completely ignored the important stuff. Moreover, I grew so attached to my business that I couldn’t even imagine myself doing something else. I still have to conquer this feeling inside.
Part of my motivation to be available all the time was the idea that I had to be nearby to solve problems quickly as they came up. That worked, but not the way I wanted.
I was indeed fixing easy issues fast (answering a tough client’s question, fixing minor site problems). But the thing is, those were not the real problems I should have been working on. They came to me largely because it’s easier not to think and not to take on the responsibility. Simply because I accepted them.
What about serious projects? “We need to find a new transportation company, because our current one fails to deliver on time.” These queued up in my enormous to-do lists and rarely saw the light of day.
The paradox is that when you refuse to deal with the routine, they (your staff) start doing it themselves. Often better than you would. And the real problems that require your attention are usually not so time-sensitive. You start to see them instead. You start to fix them faster. Much faster. This is the paradox I see. You want to be there to fix things fast, and you end up fixing them very slowly.
Make yourself unavailable to instant requests from your staff, and lots of issues will be taken care of without your attention.