High-level business leaders are experts in delegation as they have learned that they can’t do everything themselves.

Delegation becomes increasingly more important as you progress through your career and will greatly increase your productivity.

There is no other skill that will increase your productivity to the same degree as being able to delegate successfully.

To be successful, you need to allocate as much time as possible to the development of your business.

This requires focusing a significant amount of time on planning for the short-term and long-term goals of your organization.

In practice, this is actually difficult to do as your time gets overtaken with everyday operational tasks, problems, and putting out fires.

If you can successfully reduce the amount of time you spend on lower-level or routine tasks through delegation, you will have more time to commit to the growth and planning of your business.

By delegating operational tasks to someone else, your productivity will significantly increase.

Don’t waste your time on tasks other people can do more cheaply. Hand them off to someone else, and let them do their jobs without micromanaging.

Push a task down to the lowest level of responsibility possible. And delegate as much as possible.

The biggest obstacle to delegating successfully is the insistence on doing everything yourself. And most leaders do not know how to delegate effectively.

You must be responsive and open‐minded in how you communicate your needs. The workflow must be agreed upon and constantly adjusted for optimum performance.

Tips to using delegation to improve productivity:

• Allow sufficient time to explain exactly what is required or the outcome that is desired. Create a clear set of responsibilities. Vagueness creates overlap and prevents people from taking ownership. Slow down enough to give clear instructions, be available for guidance along the way, and evaluate the job when done.

• Physical proximity should not impact the speed or effectiveness of delegation. However, some upfront work is required. You must create detailed process instructions and provide other training to those you delegate to. If you are working with a team member virtually, you can send these via email but be sure to follow up to ensure understanding by the member you delegate to.

• Check-in regularly on the status of completion. You should have already clearly stated a deadline so schedule status updates accordingly. By carefully, monitoring the task you can avoid misunderstandings, over-reporting, and step in if there is a problem. Work with them to resolve any issues without placing blame. Rather work collaboratively helping them to learn along the way.

• It is not only important that you communicate clearly to those you delegate to, it is also necessary that you communicate this transferred authority to all parties involved. Otherwise, you risk others not cooperating due to a perceived lack of authority or responsibility.

• Delegate one skill at a time to reduce risk and time. It is best to begin delegation with simple tasks such as routine tasks, planned tasks, and tasks that a team member has expressed an interest in. Make sure you give credit to the member completing the task and that it is communicated to all levels appropriately.

• Using a project management tool such Wrike can make assigning tasks, checking on status, and sharing necessary information a breeze. Organize everything you need to complete your projects in one spot. Break large goals into manageable pieces, attach files, and set due dates. Easily track overall progress and individual contribution. Wrike integrates with many different other platforms making it easy to work with anyone, anywhere.

• Effective delegation is the key to managing a successful business. You will be more successful in the training and development of your employees.

When not to delegate for productivity…

• Tasks that have been delegated to you – it is important to be able to control issues that arise and ensure they are resolved between you and the task owner.

• To avoid or relinquish responsibility and ownership of tasks. Responsibility remains at all times with the task owner (you).

• As a strategy to handle last-minute tasks. This does not provide sufficient time for you to control the risks involved or to provide sufficient instructions.

• Always avoid the dump-and-run approach which is demoralizing and insulting.

Don’t give up on productivity during the learning curve

Use these tips instead:

• Avoid the temptation to redo the work yourself, assign it to someone else, or take the task back. This defeats the purpose and causes the person to feel mistrusted by you. Work with the team member to assess problems and determine a workable solution.

• Point out first what the person did well, then state in a clear and friendly way how you think they can improve. Effectively delegating and communicating will not only help you build your career but will also build camaraderie and respect among others.

It is easy to slip back into your old ways of trying to do it all. When this happens, remind yourself of the bigger picture and your essential role in realizing it. Also, realize that delegation helps your team members feel like a valuable, contributing team member. It’s a win-win!