Mastering the skill of delegation will help you manage your time and therefore reduce your stress levels. But it is often when we are most stressed that we delegate least. It is easy to panic and to cut yourself off from your colleagues or employees at times when you need their support the most.

But delegation isn't just about making your workload lighter by giving tasks to others. It is also about getting staff to take full responsibility for certain key functions. In order for a business to grow and for employees to find new paths of development, new people must be employed to take over established functions allowing others to develop different aspects of the business.

Benefits of delegation

Delegation is not an easy option. It does not make things easier (there will always be other challenges), but it does make things more efficient and effective. It is essentially a more interactive way of working with a team of people, involving instruction, training and development. You'll need to invest some time and effort to do it effectively, but the long-term benefits will make it worth your while.

Step one: Know when to delegate

Delegation is fundamental to management and growing a business, so look for opportunities to do it. These may include:

• when you have too much work to do to complete all your tasks;
• when you don't have enough time to devote to all-important tasks;
• when it is clear that certain staff need to develop, particularly new team members;
• when an employee has the skills needed to perform a specific task.

"Planning is a great stress-buster. People ask how I manage to do so much. The night before, I look at my diary and make a list of everything I have to do the next day. I then look down my 'to do' list and look for things that I can delegate. You hear others say they find delegation difficult, but I think you've got to stop being selfish, help employ other people and give someone the opportunity to do something that you can thank them for."
Emma Harrison
A4e Ltd

This article features in "Deal with stress" from the series of everywoman Simple Approach to business guides. For more information on the series, and to buy your copy visit www.everywoman.co.uk/bookshop