A fantastic woman left this message in one of my Facebook groups: “Something occurred to me about my delegation habits… I delegate, but I still OWN the task, like I’m the one checking up, and it takes so much energy. Almost more than just doing the task myself. Anyone else experience this?”

First, this is NOT unusual! Especially for high performing individuals. You KNOW in order to grow you need to have other people help with the work…yet because you’ve done it all yourself in the past, it is only natural that you feel the need to continue to check in.

Here are two options. Choose one – or both – depending on your level of comfort with delegation.

1. Co-create a check-in schedule. Pick dates and times to check in, put these in your calendar, and then meet with the person you have delegated to for periodic updates.

2. Have the delegatee provide daily (or weekly) updates. These updates can be posted on your Project Board in Asana, or on Google Drive, or via email, or whatever tracking system you use.

  • What did they accomplish?
  • What additional information / resources / help from you do they need to do their job?
  • What’s next?

Now whenever you feel the need to expend the energy checking in, take a deep breath and remind yourself that you have a system for this. You have created a way to stay in the loop on the front end so you don’t need to frustrate yourself all day long wondering how the project is going and feeling like you need to check in.

(As a bonus, you also have created the structure needed to make sure that you are aware early if the project starts to veer off track.)

Now, use the “leftover energy” to create something amazing!

That’s why you delegated in the first place, right? So you had the time, energy, and space to create something amazing?

Here’s the deal – we cover delegating (and MUCH, MUCH MORE) in the Impact Time Collective. Applications are currently being accepted for the next cohort!

As a business owner or executive director, if you are not 100% positive your organization would survive (and thrive) if you were not in the office for an extended period of time, then we need to talk! Schedule your complimentary session: www.ConnectWithLisa.com.