How to delegate without micromanaging

You know you should delegate. Then you hover, or you take it back the second it is not done your way, and everyone learns that handing you work is temporary.

Delegate the outcome, not the keystrokes. Be specific about what done looks like and why it matters, then leave the how to them. Supervision is guidance, not standing over a shoulder. If you have to control every step, you did not delegate, you postponed doing it yourself.

Set the check-ins at the seams, not on a timer. Agree on the two or three moments where being off-track would be expensive, and check there. Between those, silence is trust, and trust is what makes people rise.

When it comes back not quite how you would have done it, ask whether it is wrong or just different. Different is the price of a team that can operate without you. Wrong is a coaching moment. Confusing the two is why managers stay buried.