Delegate right. Go home at night. Download the app, read it, and immediately move toward work/life balance.
- Make a to-do list. Estimate the amount of time it will take to complete the tasks that have to be done that day. If the time needed is more than the time available, identify what to delegate and whom to delegate it to.
- Schedule follow-up meetings for delegated tasks before they are due. Leave time for the delegatee to redo anything that wasn’t done up to the agreed-upon criteria.
- If the work wasn’t done right, don’t take it back and fix it. Grow and develop your employees by letting them redo the work and learn from the experience.
- Don’t micromanage. This takes too much time and kills employee morale. Instead, have robust up-front conversations about what needs to be done, agree upon the criteria that will be used to measure the success of the project, and agree on a follow-up date and time. Don’t approach the employee about the assignment until the agreed-upon date.
- Give feedback on all assignments. Provide ideas for improvement as well as encouragement and recognition. We tend to want to work for people who show appreciation.
