Managing, to a large extent, is the art of effective delegating. But how much and when to hand off? We asked Ted Roden, founder and CEO of New York City—based Fancy Hands, a personal-assistant service that sweats the details for hundreds of busy executives.
1. Don't expect someone to get inside your head.
There are certain things people are picky about but may not realize. Booking flights is very personal, as it turns out. If you need a window seat at least five rows from the nearest child, you're probably better off handling it yourself—unless you really articulate the particulars you want.
2. Don't assign too much.
You need to give someone enough information to get the task done, but it's not appropriate to tell someone how he or she should do the work. Specify what you need and why you need it, and try to give the person the freedom to get the job done as he or she sees fit.
Delegating is harder than you expect, and it will take you some time to get used to how to work best with members of your team. Even people with the world's best assistants will tell you there was a rough patch in the beginning.