For most of us the list of things requiring our attention is much longer than the time we have available. Cross one thing off your to-do list and another two magically seem to appear! But with some thoughtful planning and a little time investment, you will find that many tasks can be delegated. Whilst delegation may seem scary at first, it also means that in the long run we have more time to focus on the things we are really good at - such as growing our businesses and making more money!

Here are some tips we’ve found useful when delegating:

1. Know the desired outcome – Before you delegate a task, be sure you have familiarised yourself with it first. Doing so will make it much easier to explain the task to someone else.

2. Avoid micro-managing - Delegate the desired outcome rather than the process. By all means demonstrate how to complete the task if necessary, but then give your helper a free reign to do things their way. For longer projects, schedule in some progress reviews so that you can be confident things are on the right track.

3. Keep your responsible head on – Whilst you need to take a step back and let your helper get on with the job at hand, you need to remain part of the process. Factor in reviews so that everyone has a chance to discuss the progress of the project and tweak any issues along the way. If things aren’t going quite to plan, find a way of working it out rather than taking the task back under your own control – tempting though that may be.

4. Feedback – Giving feedback at the end of an assignment is a great way of improving future results. Whilst it is fine to mention negative aspects (in as constructive a way as possible?) be sure to balance them with lots of positive comments too!

Invest a little time training someone else and they too will be able to handle the less important tasks. Who knows they may even end up being better at them than you are!