Delegate the outcome, not the steps: set the task, result, deadline and authority, pick the right person, then check in at agreed points. Start with recurring tasks that someone else can do to an acceptable standard, and keep what nobody else can do.
Step by step
- 1
Log your time for a week
Write down everything you do, then mark what recurs, what someone else could do, and what does not need your decision.
- 2
Choose the right person
Someone with the skill or the ability to learn and the time, and explain why you chose them and how the task helps them grow.
- 3
Define success clearly
The result required, the quality standard, the deadline, and the limits they must not cross without checking with you.
- 4
Set the level of authority
Do they act and inform you, propose and let you decide, or decide alone? Make this clear from the start so they do not stop at every step.
- 5
Follow up without taking the task back
Agreed review points, and when a mistake happens, discuss it and make it a chance to learn instead of taking the task back.
- 6
Make it part of the job description
A task the employee handles well becomes part of their permanent responsibilities, so it does not come back to you at the first sign of pressure.
Saying it is faster to do it yourself is true only the first time. The time you invest in teaching today comes back to you every week after that.
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