According to a Gallup study, CEOs who excel at delegation generate 33 percent higher revenue than those who don’t. This is not an isolated finding. Business researchers back as far as the 70s and 80s knew that a CEO’s ability to delegate was associated with good growth and profit performance. A 2020 study went even further, concluding that SMEs need to engage all their employees in dedicated training programs on effective delegation strategies.
So if we know without a doubt that more delegation equals increased profits, why do so many entrepreneurs struggle so much to do it? And the answer is, because delegation is not a natural born talent, but a skill. And like all skills, practice (and learning from your mistakes, effective two-way feedback, getting out your comfort zone etc.) makes perfect.
Caroline Gowing, co-founder and franchise director of virtual assistant network Pink Spaghetti outlines five practical tips for learning to delegate, whether it is a new skill to you, or one that would benefit from improvement.
1. Work on your mindset
Struggling to let go is not just the behaviour of control freaks, Type A personalities and perfectionists. Almost everyone finds it difficult to delegate initially. In my 16 years of experience supporting SME owners through virtual assistant company Pink Spaghetti, good delegators are just people who have had more practice.
Failing to delegate is an evergreen theme for SME owners and it makes sense why this behaviour is so common. In the startup phase, you needed to do it all yourself, to build your company from the ground up. So it’s not surprising that so many entrepreneurs get trapped with the idea that the formula for success is simply more of the same.
Except deep down, they know it isn’t. There are only so many hours in the day, and to grow your business, you need to spend those precious hours on the highest value tasks, delegating the rest. In other words, your time is best spent working on your business and not in it. This way, your business gets more of the ‘best bits’ of you. It’s a large mindset shift. But once you’ve made it, you won’t look back.
2. Decide what to delegate
The best tasks to delegate are usually those that are routine, time consuming, can be easily learned by others, and don’t align with your core strengths. So for your business, these jobs might include answering the phone, booking appointments, sending out and chasing invoices or arranging travel and accommodation.
My best advice when you are struggling to delegate is to start small – and low risk – and work your way up from there. It also helps if it’s a task that you don’t personally enjoy as the relief of taking it off your to do list should be pretty instant.
3. Choose the right person to delegate to
Depending on the stage your business is at, the right person to delegate to could be an existing employee, a potential new hire, or a freelancer, such as a virtual assistant, social media content creator or bookkeeper.
Regardless of whether you are looking to delegate to someone internal or external to your company, my message is the same: make sure you choose the right person.
And what do I mean by the right person? It’s a combination of finding someone with the skills and experience you need, but it’s equally important that you have that ‘click’ with someone in order to successfully delegate.
Without trust and confidence, delegation is immediately off on the wrong foot, so before you make a start, ensure you are delegating to someone you believe is up to the task.
4. Produce a proper brief
In order to successfully delegate, there needs to be clear communication on both sides – from both the delegator and the delegatee.
And as the delegator, this means you need to provide a watertight brief. A strong brief not only tells someone what you want them to do, it also helps them understand how you want them to do it and by what deadline. It is also in your court to communicate how a successful outcome looks, and to invite feedback and questions to clarify any ambiguities within your brief.
Two-way feedback continues to be vital once the delegated task is completed, so the delegatee can understand how they can do even better next time. And perhaps, in return, they can offer some useful ideas about how their next brief can be more effective.
5. Support without micromanaging
Delegation is an exercise in trust. When you delegate a task, you are trusting that someone else will complete it to your satisfaction. And conversely, the delegatee is trusting that in return, you will communicate clearly what you want, give them the tools and time to achieve it, will say thank you for a job well done and will pay them. It is therefore imperative that you communicate trust even if you don’t feel it at first ie fake it ‘til you make it.
When delegation between two people is new, it is reasonable to schedule regular check ins to verify that a task is on track – and to ask whether there are any questions or concerns you can support with. But as time goes on and trust is built, your delegatee will do better when left to manage their own work. Your support role now involves providing the kind of actionable feedback – both positive and negative – that will allow them to continually improve their performance.
Delegation isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity for any entrepreneur who wants to take their business to the next level. As research shows, it’s directly linked to better financial performance, and yet so many small business owners fail to apply it to. The good news? Delegation is not some elusive gift—it’s a skill that can be learned, refined, and mastered over time. By shifting your mindset, starting small, choosing the right people, communicating clearly, and striking the right balance between support and autonomy, you’ll start to unlock the freedom to focus on what really matters: growing your business. Like any skill, it takes practice—but the payoff is well worth the effort.