Have you ever thought to yourself, “One day, when I have time, I'm going to …” What's the end of that sentence for you? Time is something that we can't earn more of. By doing anything, we are choosing to not do something else. Are you spending your time on the things that only you can do, or are there things you're doing that somebody else could do? Freeing up that time means you can focus on the things you should be doing and want to be doing. It's also about helping your team to grow because maybe they want to grow their skills and take on more responsibility.

To recognize our differences, our team has all completed the Kolbe questionnaire. We've done other assessments looking at communication styles, how we like to give and receive information, and we share the results of them so we understand the things that are important to each other and how we work together. It's important to understand that different people can have the potential for conflict.

For example, someone who is a high fact-finder in Kolbe terms — so someone who pays a lot of attention to detail — has the potential for conflict with someone who Kolbe would call a high quick start. Someone who doesn't really do details. If you understand that among your team members, you can design structures and processes to minimize any potential for conflict.

Delegating could be about you delegating things to your team, but it could also be members of your team doing things that they shouldn't really be doing and perhaps they need to be encouraged to delegate as well. Have you ever had the thought, Oh, I have too much to do, but I can't show them how to do it because it will take too long. So I'm just going to do it myself? I know I've had times when I've been guilty of that. But the problem with doing that is you're always going to be too busy because your team is never going to learn, so you're never going to free things up. They don't get the opportunity to grow.

One of the things I did was look at where I'm spending my time. Initially I did it by trying to think of everything I was doing and making a list. But the problem with that is you can miss things. So I found a better way to do it was to keep a sheet of paper on my desk and write down every time I did something. That way you capture everything. Do it for a few days so that hopefully you've got everything that you might do.

Once you've got that list together, have a look at it and ask yourself, “Is that something I should be doing?” Because you should be doing the things that only you can do and delegating everything else. There might be things on that list that you're not very good at, so stop doing them. There might be things on that list that you can do and you can do really well, but so could somebody else. You should end up being able to do the things that only you can do and delegating everything else.

It may take time. You might delegate some things and then you review it again and you think, Oh actually, now I can delegate this thing. That could be because the team has grown its skills and is capable of taking on more. I find by asking the team to take on new things that they're capable of a lot more than they think they are. Perhaps capable of more than I thought they were. It's only by having been put into that position of needing to do something that they realize quite what they can do. Which then means you can delegate more to them, but also that they should probably be delegating things, too.

So a challenge for you: When you get back to the office, find a minimum of one thing to delegate and delegate it effectively. Depending on the size of the project or the scale of what you're passing over, it's a good idea to have structure to your delegation. This has the potential for conflict. Coming back to the Kolbe questionnaires: The no-details person says, "Do that," and the other person who likes a lot of details says, "What am I supposed to do? I'm not a mind reader." That can cause frustration, which can lead to conflict.

If you're going to delegate something to somebody who you know is a high fact finder, or if it's just something that's quite a big thing for somebody to take on for the first time, then be clear about what it is they need to do. Tell them exactly how things should look once the project's been done and done well. Also give them the why. Tell them the importance of what it is you want them to do. Because that's going to help their motivation. Particularly if it's something that's requiring them to go out of their comfort zone.

Also give timescales. When do you need this thing back by? Or are there certain points you need to get to, rather than the whole thing being completed? Give them that timescale so they know where they need to get to, and close the loop. What updates do you want? Do you want regular progress updates? Do you want to know when key stages are complete? Or do you just want to know at the end? If you've given that other person all of the information they need, you're making it easier for them to do the job, which makes it easier for you to delegate.

If you've delegated something and it hasn't gone well, take the time to look at why. Maybe sit down with that other person and ask them what went wrong. What worked, what didn't work and how can you change it for next time. Having delegated one thing effectively, perhaps complete the list I mentioned earlier. Have that sheet of paper on your desk. Look at every single last thing that you're doing and then review: Should it be you or should it be one of your team?