This week we’re talking all about hiring people and delegating. As designers, we’re often the ones being hired, but it’s important to understand how hiring others can help you. Whether you’re looking to scale out your design services or simply take some of your least favourite tasks off of your plate, delegation is definitely worth considering.

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Show Notes for This Episode:

[1:00] This week we’re talking about delegation and managing people in the design industry
[2:30] Tom wants to touch on this subject as he’s seen the benefits of delegating
[3:00] The hosts cover how much they’ve been delegating
[3:30] Dustin has been working with his assistant Suzanne for over two years, as well as other contractors
[4:30] They help take a lot of work of off Dustin’s plate, so he can focus on planning and strategy
[5:20] Lisa has finally hired an assistant and she’s still in the learning phase of setting up a work plan
[6:00] Julie runs Lisa’s Etsy shop, does research and groundwork on new projects
[7:30] Lisa’s challenge is training someone to know the products well enough to do customer support
[8:10] Tom and Dustin clarify how an assistant comes to learn all your work
[9:00] Lisa wants to know the steps of training someone to know everything about your work
[9:30] Dustin and Tom run through their different training processes
[10:20] Tom admits he’s been finding it hard to let go and delegate
[11:20] You will find someone amazing to help with your work
[12:00] The benefits of having someone focused on a role
[12:20] When you think you can’t replace someone, but then someone better comes along
[13:40] The importance of having great customer support
[14:30] There’s people who’d like to do even the jobs you find boring
[15:20] Tom asks potential hires to come and spend a day in the Design Cuts office and learn about the role
[16:00] Don’t misrepresent jobs – someone will like and be great at any role
[17:00] Ian only outsources preview graphics to an assistant
[18:00] The host all have different experiences with hiring and delegating
[19:00] Ian delegated the things he didn’t enjoy doing, even though they didn’t save much time
[20:00] He mentions he doesn’t have a lot of time-consuming tasks
[21:20] He thinks once he has more YouTube content going out he could hire someone to manage it
[22:20] Ian admits he’s not very good at planning
[23:00] He enjoys being flexible and having the freedom of spending time with his family
[24:40] Not needing to do everything in one day and prioritising things you like doing
[25:30] Ian did a talk for Apple
[26:00] He really struggled with written English during school
[27:00] Writing scripts and post descriptions is an important aspect of his work
[28:00] Ian describes his YouTube journey
[28:40] The two reasons why you should delegate: time and happiness
[29:10] All the things you could achieve by freeing up some time
[29:50] You can do delegation on any scale that you want
[31:20] Tom talks about competitive rates based on the locations of the freelancer
[32:00] Make a list of all the things you don’t like or don’t have time to do and delegate these to someone else
[33:00] Dustin doesn’t enjoy doing the finances, but is reluctant to delegate this
[34:20] Lisa asked her husband to do the accounting and he was happy to
[36:00] Dustin’s wife has also offered to help with the accounting
[37:00] Dustin shares Alan Watts’ quote on money
[37:40] Once you delegate you feel you will never go back
[38:20] Working with business partners
[39:00] The reasons for holding back people from delegating
[40:20] Lisa found her assistant from the listeners of the podcast
[41:00] Dustin gives Diane Gibbs a mention
[41:20] He previously used a US-based website called Zirtual
[42:20] And Tom mentions Upwork and the benefits of using this service
[44:00] Tom summarises all the ways you can get someone to help with work
[45:00] Reducing risks but having more people working only on small parts of your business
[46:00] Being reluctant about spending the time to manage people
[46:40] Make sure you are being very clear of the expectations up front
[47:45] Hiring someone to set the steps required to train someone else
[48:40] Lisa worries she’s not using her assistant to the best of her capabilities
[51:00] Dustin talks about getting started as a freelancer
[51:40] And Tom shares his experience and how much he loved it
[53:00] Taking the first step is the hardest but it comes with so many benefits
[53:40] Think of delegating like a partnership or friendship
[54:20] Your new hires will come up with new ideas you never thought off
[55:00] Thinking hiring someone cost money, when in reality they’re making you money
[55:50] The difference it will make for you as person and your social life
[56:40] Lisa talks breaking down how much work needs to be done to cover renting costs
[57:40] The false assumption that you need to make a lot of money to be able to hire someone
[59:00] The hosts talk about the “Meet the Hosts 2” episode and the great engagement it got
[59:30] They all joke about delegating next week’s podcast to hired hosts
[1:00:30] Give people more freedom and they will shine
[1:01:20] They don’t have to be as good as you to do a great job
[1:02:10] Anyone can delegate and scale their business
[1:03:00] Hiring someone to create a blog around your passion
[1:03:50] All the work Ian could get help with for his YouTube content
[1:04:20] Getting someone to do your web and logo designs
[1:05:00] Without delegation there would be no industry
[1:05:40] Ian jokes about having someone to tidy up after himself
[1:06:30] Tom challenges everyone to write the task that could save them time and delegate
[1:07:00] Thank you all for listening to this week’s episode


“A must for every creative freelancer (or those aspiring to freelance). Thank you for being so… honest! Such a wealth of information from people I admire who have ‘been there and done that’. Listening to the podcast every week feels like I’m among friends. Can’t wait for more episodes!”AG_GD