Not really quotes, but some info from older sages that guided me thru ‘taking it all on myself’, despite the fact that I had employees to help carry the load. These lessons below are a quick litmus tests for when to give things away:
HOW to delegate tasks to an employee:
Explain why the task is useful and needed.
Explain why they're a good fit.
Clarify expectations and deliverables, especially the timeline.
Adding expectations of ‘update me along the way every X days’ (as example) is critical, especially for less experienced employees. They have to know they cannot simply disappear for weeks and come back when it’s done…as this eliminates opportunity for you to course-correct until after it’s too late.
Ask them to say it back to you (active listening).
WHEN to delegate a task to an employee:
If you've done it before and/or you won't learn anything additional by doing it.
If the employee needs the growth opportunity.
If an employee is better suited to do it, has more experience than you in that area.
If the task is frequent/recurring, and each employee should be able to do it.
If the task is low priority, and you're busy w/ high priority/immediate items.
If you need to build a depth chart, to create backup for yourself.