It is normal to feel nervous about handing off important work, especially if you have been doing everything yourself for years. Trust grows through structure, not through hope. Delegation is a skill that blends clear outcomes, simple guardrails, and tight feedback loops. When done well, it reduces risk instead of increasing it.

Start small. Choose a recurring task with low downside: drafting follow-up emails, preparing meeting agendas, or updating a report. Define success in one or two sentences, provide an example, and set a due date. Ask the person to restate the task in their own words to confirm understanding. This practice surfaces gaps before work begins.

Use check-in points. For unfamiliar work, schedule a quick review at 20 percent completion (alignment), 80 percent completion (final tweaks), and delivery. These checkpoints prevent surprises and build confidence on both sides. As trust grows, reduce the check-ins.

Create lightweight SOPs and templates. A short checklist or template reduces ambiguity and improves quality. Keep them in a shared space and update after each cycle. Over time, the SOP becomes the training material for the next person, making delegation easier with each handoff.

Separate authority levels. For a given task, clarify what the delegate can decide alone, what requires approval, and what must be escalated. This reduces the fear that someone will make an irreversible decision and gives the delegate freedom within boundaries.

Review outcomes, not personalities. When work comes back, focus feedback on the deliverable and the process: what worked, what to change, what the next iteration looks like. A predictable feedback loop builds trust faster than vague praise or criticism.

Finally, accept that the first few handoffs may be slower than doing it yourself. That is normal. The payoff arrives after a few cycles when the task runs with minimal oversight and you reclaim hours for higher-value work. Delegation is not about blind trust; it is about designing a system where people can succeed reliably.