Welcome to the world of nonprofit marketing, where your mission is to make the world a better place by spreading your organization’s message far and wide. And guess what? We do it all on a shoestring budget, with tight deadlines, and too often, with only a handful of resources. Quite often, being a nonprofit marketer means juggling a million things at once.
But there is a silver lining. If you’re fortunate enough to have a marketing team (lucky you!), here’s your golden ticket: delegation.
- By delegating tasks, you can free up your valuable time and direct your focus toward the big picture while also reducing your stress and workload and giving you more breathing room to excel (more on balancing your mental health here).
But that’s not all!
- Delegation also fosters more participation, collaboration, and teamwork, allowing marketing teams to harness the diverse talents across the team. You’ll benefit from fresh perspectives and innovative ideas from both seasoned and new members, creating a dynamic and engaged environment.
Sometimes though, figuring out how to navigate delegation in relation to new hires specifically, can be a bit tricky. You want to strike the right balance between assigning them tasks that free you up but also challenge and help them grow. Successful marketing teams have the right level of guidance and support.
Where to Begin?
It’s about finding that sweet spot where they can support and contribute effectively to the team, while gaining valuable experience along the way.
Let’s explore some strategies to help you navigate this delegation journey with new hires like a pro.
4 Key Areas of Delegation for Marketing Teams
First up, let’s dive into the world of onboarding, where you lay the groundwork for success. Then, we’ll discover the significance of systems and processes, making sure things run smoothly and efficiently. Next, we’ll talk about trust, which is essential for effective delegation. Lastly, we’ll explore the idea of control, finding the right balance between guidance and independence.
1. Onboarding is the Foundation for Success
Effective onboarding is critical for the success of new hires. When you bring on a new team member, you want to make sure they have a clear understanding of what’s expected of them. To help ensure a smooth onboarding process, consider the use of the following tools and techniques:
- Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): SOPs are helpful because they documents or other visuals that provide a clear set of instructions for how recurring tasks should be completed. New hires can refer to them when needed.
- Shadowing: involves pairing a new hire with a trusted representative of the organization. The assigned buddy or mentor assists and guides the new hire during their initial weeks, helping them become familiar with the organization’s culture, processes, and expectations.
This support system eases the transition into the new role and facilitates a smoother integration within the team. Choose someone who represents the organization well to act as a buddy during the onboarding process. This person can provide support and guidance to the new hire during their first few weeks.
2. Setting Up Tools and Processes
Set your new hires up for success by giving them the tools they need to get the job done. This might mean a project management system, cloud-based storage, or an editorial calendar. Be sure to provide training and resources to help them learn these systems, as well as best practices.
3. Building Trust with Effective Communication and Delegation
Trust is an important factor in any relationship but especially when it comes to your direct reports. Delegating becomes easier when you foster an environment of trust. Here are some ways to do that:
- Spend some time getting to know your new hires and their work style. Be open and approachable.
- Delegate smaller tasks to help build confidence and assurance. As trust grows, delegate more complex tasks. For example, if your new hire is responsible for event planning, delegate tasks such as coordinating vendor logistics or creating the event agenda at first, moving on to something bigger as those are completed successfully.
- Encourage open communication and regularly provide constructive feedback.
Remember the more you trust in your new hire the more you will be building their confidence and motivation to succeed.
4. Relinquishing Control and Finding the Right Balance
It’s a mindset shift to be able to let go and trust others to do the job. But, by doing so, you are setting your team up for success and helping to build a strong foundation for the future.
Relinquishing control involves finding the right balance between guidance and autonomy.
- Consider the strengths and skills of your new hire when delegating tasks, and provide clear instructions and expectations for each task.
- Prioritize tasks together to ensure that your new hire knows what is most important.
- Check in regularly to provide guidance and support, and use coaching questions to help them grow. Ex. “What alternative approaches or perspectives could you consider?” or “What are the potential obstacles or challenges you foresee?” or “How can we break down this goal into smaller, manageable steps?”
- Be sure to also offer opportunities for growth and development. For example, if your new hire is responsible for email marketing, offer them resources such as Mailchimp’s email marketing best practices or other webinars on email marketing strategies so they can continue to hone their skills and effectively manage their workload.
Marketing Teams Achieving Success Together
Delegation can very well act as your superpower if done correctly. When you delegate tasks to new hires, make it a win-win situation where you get more time to focus on the big picture, and they get a starter’s chance to grow and shine in their brand-new roles. This is how marketing teams succeed!
It’s all about putting a focus on onboarding, systems, trust, and relinquishing control. By mastering these areas and assigning tasks that match their strengths, we’ll help our marketing teams thrive and our new hires succeed.
Bonus Tip? Keep in mind that delegation is not just for your marketing teams but for all others in your organization as well. Check out these tips on how to create a culture where everyone is a marketer at your organization.
What’s already working for you? Share your tips or join us to chat about this topic with your fellow nonprofit communicators by joining our FREE private community!
