The hard thing about delegating tasks is that you probably have the best idea on how to do things and what needs to happen. The only problem: you only have so many hours in a day and while it is possible to get better and get more stuff done in one day, working with someone else to delegate tasks to can make you twice as productive.

A couple of ideas to improve this process:

• Start with why: always explain why something needs to happen. This allows the other person to really understand and come up with creative ways to reach your goals.
• Set a clear deadline: not only mention why something needs to happen, but ask when it can get done. Confirm this, make sure to keep track of this date and make sure to mention that they check in with you on the date of the deadline.
• Break things up in small chunks: if it is hard to come up with a solid deadline, ask to break up the work in smaller chunks. Ask “what is the very first thing that needs to happen and by when can this be done?”
• Trust but verify: no one likes to have the feeling of being micro-managed. Check in regularly (especially when starting out), and at the same time trust that things will get done. You are responsible for the outcome, so you need to verify if the deliverables are on par with the quality you need.