Learning to Delegate as a First-Time Manager

Learning how to delegate well is a skill every first-time manager needs to learn from the very start. Many people are promoted into management for doing their previous job well. But once you’re promoted into a leadership role, you must accept that you can’t do everything on your own — nor should you. Though it may seem counterintuitive, the more senior you become in an organization, the less you’ll be involved in doing the day-to-day work. You’ll need to have a sense of what’s happening without directly contributing to every project. To do that, you first have to change your mindset from “doing” to “managing,” even though it might feel uncomfortable. If you resist this change, you’ll likely end up  overwhelmed and (unintentionally) holding onto opportunities that could be given to your team.