How an Organization Chart can Help Reduce Overwhelm in Business and at Home
I was recently talking with a woman who owns a business with her husband, and she was feeling very overwhelmed. Right now just the two of them operate the small store that they own, so there are a lot of jobs for just two people to do.
Part of her overwhelm came from feeling that she needed to do EVERYTHING in the business herself. When it came to certain things, like customer service, she felt that she was better at it than her husband, so she took on the entire role of customer service. She also felt like she was nagging her husband to do the other tasks that needed to get done and oftentimes it led to her just doing them herself.
This is not uncommon. Not only in a business operated by close partners, but also in the relationship at home. How many times have you been exhausted but decided to tackle the chore around your house either because you didn’t want to nag your partner or you felt like you could do it better?
Take out the emotion
One suggestion I made was to take the emotions out of running the business by creating an organizational chart. Take a few minutes to think of all the jobs that need to be done in your business and then put them into “departments.” Some examples may be a Marketing Department, an Administrative Department, a Customer Services Department, etc. Under each department, put the jobs that are included in that responsibility.
This is a good exercise even if you’re the only one running your business right now because it will set you up for the future when you may need to hire help. By having your organizational chart ready with a job description under each one, onboarding new employees or subcontractors will be simple.
Use this with your partner
That might make sense for your business, but how does this relate to your personal life? How often do we expect our partner to read our mind and know what we’re expecting them to do around the house? These expectations often lead to problems because they actually CAN’T read our minds. So we feel overworked and underappreciated. At that point our emotions might get the better of us.
By setting up an “organizational chart” at home, you can break down the tasks that need to be done around the house with a job description under each one. After this is written out, each partner can choose the jobs they feel most comfortable doing and the other partner no longer has to be responsible for it. By talking this out before things get heated, you and your partner can keep your home and family smoothly running, and get to enjoy time for yourselves!
If you’re feeling overwhelmed in your business, career, or home, I encourage you to reach out. We’ll come up with a plan for success!