Good afternoon. Are you focusing on what only you can do? Sometimes that's easier said than done. And I confess that delegating, or do I really mean letting go, has sometimes been an issue for me. Whilst I'm a lot better than I used to be, it's still something to keep under review.

I'll think that I've delegated everything, but what I've delegated are the things I identified the last time I looked at where I'm spending my time. And, since then, the capabilities of the team have increased, and my focus on where I am, or should be, spending my time has also changed. I'm sure that I'm not alone with this. Just because you can do something, doesn't necessarily mean that you should. When I say focus on what only you can do, I mean genuinely only you can do it. For example, meeting with your clients, spending time thinking strategically about your business and working on your business.

I found that the things I want to delegate are those that have started to cause frustration, maybe because they're just not getting done or I'm frustrated by doing them. Making myself let go of things so I can focus on what's important has helped me to realize that some of the team really want to get more involved. They want to take on more responsibilities and grow their skills, and that's fantastic for all of us. I've often found they're capable of far more than they think they are.

One caveat to all of this though, my colleague, Gemma, is so enthusiastic about all of the personal development she's done, and so motivated by it, that her husband dreads it when she starts working on her goals, often because it's going to involve a to-do list for him or some sort of work around the house. But he blames me for that. You can't grow personally without also growing professionally and vice versa.

So, if you haven't recently, have a look at where you're spending your time, down to every last detail, and ask yourself, "Should it really be you doing it?" You might be thinking that you don't have that person to delegate to or they couldn't do as well as you, but is that true or is it your need for control? You might also think, "It only takes a few minutes, I'll just get it done." But it's the compounding effect of saving those few minutes that all make the difference.

I've also found outsourcing to be really helpful if we don't have the skills 0n the team. While there is a cost involved, it frees up your time to generate more revenue, so should more than pay for itself. And you should probably be thinking of the cost of not outsourcing.

Delegating is likely to slow you down in the short term, as whomever you've delegated to needs to learn what to do. And, to start off with, they will take longer than you to do it. But, ultimately, you will save time. Your delegation will go more smoothly if you take some time to plan and be clear about what needs to happen. You may feel it's obvious, but the other person may not. So take a few minutes to be clear about what needs to be done, the standard it should be done to, by when it should be done, and the importance of doing it. This will save you both a lot of time and potential frustration.

If you need to add new members to your team, then some things to consider are, are you happy with how you work with your team currently? Is additional training and development needed? Do you have standard processes in your business to make it easier for a new team member to integrate? And be clear about your company culture and values to make sure the values of any potential new recruit are aligned with yours.