As a business owner, you will almost certainly have to perform multiple responsibilities at the same time. You may need to handle things at the management level since your workforce is simply not suited to do so. You may also be forced to identify strategies to stay within budget while filling critical responsibilities.
You may need to respond to an emergency call or deal with an urgent financial situation. More significantly, you must supervise the work of several departments in order to track success and growth while also keeping an eye out for errors.
So, if you're a business owner who has to wear many hats, here are some tips to help you keep organized and productive.
How Do You Wear Multiple Hats?
Tracy Brower discusses ideas for succeeding in these professions in a Forbes piece about wearing numerous hats. Let's take the next step by delving into the multifaceted aspects of taking on several responsibilities as a business owner, including skills, tips, and cautious advice.
Pose some thoughtful questions to yourself to help you learn more about yourself. The answers to these questions will come from you, and they will lead to big professional discoveries. Some questions may appear simple, yet they are critical to the self-awareness practice.
– Are you playing several roles out of choice or necessity?
– Which role do you most enjoy playing?
– Does it rely on your previous strengths, or do you learn something new every day?
– Which role do you find the most or least interesting?
– Why did you agree to do it?
– What drives you to do it if it's not your passion?
– Are you here because you're having trouble juggling various responsibilities?
– Have you begun to feel tired?
– Is this catastrophe preparedness?
– Where should the line be drawn?
Master of One vs. Master of None
Is this the first time you've heard the entire quote? It is for many people. However, it has been in use for hundreds of years. Robert Greene notably used it in his booklet and even referred to William Shakespeare as a "jack of all trades."
While there is no precise source for who said it originally, the word was used many years ago to refer to "jacks" or those who knew a variety of things in life. "Jack" may have been a common name, similar to "average Joe" today.
This begs the question of how this affects us in our daily lives, particularly in business. As long as you know what you're doing, multitasking is beneficial. And that takes a lot of skill.
1. Time Management
The most important ability to master as a professional wearing numerous hats is time management. Even your personal space may be invaded at times, and unexpected calls and meetings may occur over the weekend.
If you have too many meetings, events, or work scheduled for the day, attempt to stick to a schedule and divide your time across roles based on your level of engagement. Set firm limits if necessary, or react to the situation.
Time will be a vital component of being a business owner, no matter how you work around it. There are numerous time management tools available on the internet to assist you with the process.
2. Clear Judgment
Is that task not worth 30 minutes of your time? Drop it, or perhaps do it later. You must be judicious about what is most important to you and how you spend your time, which can only be done if you have a solid sense of justice.
Your perception extends to the team you work with, the clients you work with, and the gatherings you attend. If it's not worth your time and effort, you'd be better off doing something more productive.
Of course, there are other things you may do to ensure that these non-essential chores get completed. Finding the correct individual to delegate this duty to is one ideal solution. This entails seeking for productive and competent team members to join your company.
3. Eye for Detail
Wearing several hats necessitates critical thinking skills. The tasks you do can come back to haunt you if they contain errors or blanks.
If you are not detail-oriented, you will waste time redoing things over and over again without making any progress. When there are problems or issues, the following step is usually to hunt for a solution. While this is a solid approach, it may not be the best.
Before leaping to any conclusions, look for the details. There could be an underlying cause that needs to be addressed. This is where you'll find the root of the problem. In this sense, fixing the problem is a one-time event rather than applying band-aids every time it arises.
4. Leadership
If your jobs demand you to work as part of a team, you will need leadership abilities to negotiate the hurdles of teamwork. People differ, and we all have our own perspectives.
To enhance productivity, you'll need to assess, communicate, delegate, motivate, and leverage your team's talents as a leader. It is one thing to urge people to do things, and quite another to inspire them to act.
Finding the correct balance is essential for a good leader.
5. Efficient Workspace Organization
Wearing multiple hats necessitates a considerable amount of storage space. So your workplace is the closet in which you keep all of your files, documents, notes, tools, and other work-related items.
Keeping your workstation organized, whether physically or digitally, declutter your environment and thoughts, making you more effective and clear-headed. Maintain separate filing cabinets in your office or distinct computer files.
Keep Your Eyes Open
The capacity to wear numerous hats is a rewarding and enjoyable role. It allows you to be a part of most aspects of a business and see things that others do not. However, there are several things to keep an eye out for. Here are some things you should avoid when wearing many hats.
1. Don’t Expect to Know Everything
Let's face it: no one can possibly know everything. Why act like a computer when you're not one? It happens to the best of us, and it usually happens at the worst possible time.
Don't be alarmed if you can't find a solution to an issue or if a colleague unexpectedly raises an unanswerable inquiry. If you put forth the effort, you will eventually find a solution.
2. Don’t Be in Charge of Everything
Don't be a control freak now. Don't be tempted to dip your hand in all of the jars to check the temperature. The ability to wear numerous hats does not imply that you must do everything. There's a reason you have managers and rank-and-file members on your team.
Your squad requires a captain, not a custodian. Allow your team to grow with your coaching and make decisions on things that they can make. Soon, you won't have to check up on them as frequently because they are already more prepared for the task.
3. Don’t Seek Perfection
Nothing is ever totally flawless because flowers grow in cracks. So, instead of making your experience the ultimate bar of perfection, let your members fail, get up, and learn on their own.
Your men learn how to handle situations in the same way that you do. Quality is one of the most crucial aspects of any organization, but it does not have to be flawless. Unless there is no growth, now is the time to look for alternative options.
4. Don’t Reject Feedback
When you take on many roles, you engage with many people in various capacities. Take comments from each member to determine how well you're doing on each front.
Hearing criticism, even constructive criticism, is something that many leaders overlook. You're not a jack-of-all-trades who knows everything. You're destined to make mistakes since you're human.
Learning from mistakes, whether from the experiences of others or your own, leads to growth. Take in as much feedback as possible.
5. Don’t Say Yes to Everything
If you ever have the need to volunteer for everything, go outside and come back when you're fatigued because that's how you'll feel if you keep saying yes.
Give equal time and focus to developing a high-performing staff that can fill your duties. Empower your employees to take up jobs that do not require executive engagement.
The saved time can then be used to do something more useful.
6. Don’t Wear Hats Simultaneously
You can't be creative and finance at the same time because each job has different requirements and performance levels. Taking on numerous roles at the same time can clog your thoughts, distort your judgment, and reduce your output to a bare minimum.
7. Don’t Compromise Your Life
Wearing many hats takes time, and there will be times when you must choose between accepting a business call and going out to dinner with your family.
Choose what makes you the happiest, because you can always make up for lost money. But you can't make up for lost time.
8. Don’t Compromise Your Health
It's tempting to accomplish everything you want, but remember that the best enjoyment comes from finding balance and well-being in a healthy body and a quiet mind. If you wear numerous hats, take regular breaks to recharge your batteries.
If it becomes too much, don't be afraid to remove a few hats. Only when you are at your best can you perform your best!
