Letting go is hard
One of my goals this year is to get better at sharing. I like control, I like to be in charge. I take comfort in knowing that everything is done just the way I like it and to the standard I want. But I’m all too aware this attitude could kill my business.
If I continue to keep tight control over every aspect of every project, then I need to accept my business will only be able to achieve a finite level of growth. There are only so many hours in my day, and I’ve made a commitment to spend a reasonable number of them with my family, friends and sleeping. If this business is to grow, I have to let it go, Elsa.
At Part Time Professionals we’ve been working on this. See how I slipped “we” in there”? That’s because I have help. One of our lovely project managers has been helping document our processes. A major part of this is deciding who’s responsible for what tasks, triggering questions like “is that really what you should be spending your time on?” and “is that going to be sustainable as the business grows?”. These are two tricky - but very valid and important - questions.
That’s why I am writing this blog now. I’ve just had a client email me through a contract, officially giving us the go-ahead on a project. I REALLY want to set up the folders and Slack channel for the project. I REALLY want to email the people I think are best suited to the project and get it started. But these tasks aren’t my responsibility any more, and I’m finding it hard. Starting is the best bit - it’s all fresh and exciting. Instead, I’m sitting here, reflecting.
I have to let go of these tasks, even if it means someone does them differently than I would. Maybe their way will be better, and that would be a good thing.
The Part Time Professional business model is based on everyone doing what they’re awesome at. Our project managers are awesome at running projects. They are better at it than I am, and I need to keep my ego in check and remember that’s a good thing. If I let myself feel threatened by this, the business will probably fail.
So instead of feeling any of these things, I’m writing to remind myself why I’m not doing the set-up for the project. Why, instead, I’m waiting for my project manager to get back to me so we can set up an initial meeting. And why this is the right thing to do for my business.
I do hope this gets easier.