Quick recap - for those that missed last week’s post, check it out to see if your onboarding process is as efficient as you think it is! Don’t forget to save the Email Outline and Scheduling Overview delegation templates (Reminder: open the link, it will open in Google Docs, click File >, Make a copy, and wahlah you have an editable doc you can customize.)
photo cred: @dlsn_daniel
As promised, we’ve got two more delegation templates for you; the Travel Guide and the Event Rundown. But first, let’s chat about what delegating travel and events actually entails.
TRAVEL
The most effective way to delegate travel is to do it before you actually have a trip planned. I know this may seem backwards, but look at it this way -- more often than not, business travel is booked with little to no lead time, especially if you are a busy, c-suite executive or founder. The more packed your calendar is, the higher the probability your schedule and/or window for travel will shift between the time you commit to the event/meeting and the week before you depart. This conditions us to not want to book travel until we are 100% sure we can avoid those pesky $200 airline change fees. So, providing your VA with all your travel preferences and details before you assign them the first trip will save you time, frustration, and possibly $200 by:
1. Allowing yourself to clearly think through every detail needed when booking travel (this includes airport transfers, ground transportation, hotels, etc - not just flights.)
2. Allowing your VA the headspace to ask proactive questions and help secure a full travel profile for you before getting down to the wire.
Discussing details in a non-stressful environment (i.e. NOT when a trip that needs to be booked by EOD and the only details given are the dates and cities) gives your VA the mental capacity to expand on your process. Do you get your hair blown out day before travel, or your suit pressed upon arrival, do you prefer aisle, window, or exit rows, do you have a preferred car service - or an account with a car service, do you need arrangements for a pet, and so on. This may seem like a ton of questions, but again, the more details you give up front, even if it takes the better part of an hour, the less time you’ll have to spend when you are down to the wire getting your presentation done and realize you still need to secure travel. This also provides a better experience for you, knowing your VA has your back (and all the tools they need to handle your schedule better than you can). Here’s our Travel Guide to help delegate (and yes, I included all the questions listed above so you don’t have to take notes!).
EVENTS
The same basic principles apply to delegating and planning events. Details and communication (and especially communicating the details) are key to making an event successful and positively memorable for your guests. Events are made up of many moving parts; catering, venue, guest list, entertainment, speakers, registration, etc, and it’s important to keep everything organized. Sometimes too many cooks in the kitchen will actually slow progress, or cause the ‘I thought so-and-so was handling that’ scenario, which is frustrating just to think about. The only way to keep that from happening (without wearing yourself down by doing it solo) is to delegate and assign specific ascpects of the event planning process to specific members of your team.
This Event Rundown will help you keep all your details in one, easy shareable place (keep in mind, you are in control of who it’s shared with/who can access it), and more importantly, help you delegate the parts that you should be delegating to your VA and team, allowing time for you to focus on the most important aspects of your event.