When we talk with clients about business challenges, one is always at the top of the list: the inability to delegate.

It’s a struggle for many reasons. We know the work needs to get done, and we both 1) know how to do it and 2) struggle to articulate what the result should look like—so it’s just easier to do ourselves. And, there’s the whole idea of control: if we don’t do the thing, we have no idea whether it’s being done right. 

Delegation is a process—it’s very rarely an “I told you how to do this, so now it’s yours” kind of action. But if we can get past the discomfort, there’s empowerment for your team and additional time for you on the other side. 

Here are a few pieces to consider if you’ve been struggling to delegate:

• Understand that delegation is a skill that requires a different mindset. As a business owner, your success is determined by your ability to help your team grow and reach their goals in a way that contributes to the vision for your business. Embrace the idea that delegation requires both learning and teaching—learning to do it, and teaching others how to develop their skills. No one is born a delegator!
  
• Perform a “delegation audit.” As you’re deciding which tasks to delegate, ask yourself a few of these questions from this Harvard Business Review article: “What tasks are hampering my ability to work on the ‘high-level’ projects that only I can carry out?” “Which tasks or projects might be learning opportunities for my employees?” “If I can’t delegate entire tasks, can I delegate certain pieces of a project to leverage individual strengths?” Asking yourself these questions can help you truly understand what can and should be delegated. 
• Realize that your “yuck” can be someone else’s “yum.” Often, we avoid delegating because we don’t want to give people work that’s “beneath them” or that they wouldn’t want to do. But when we ask our employees about the tasks they like to do rather than assume, you might find that you have someone who loves updating spreadsheets, sending out invoices, or drafting meeting agendas. 
• Clearly communicate about your delegated tasks. Transparency is the name of the game when it comes to delegation. Your employees will need to know what you’re delegating, why they’re being asked to take on this task, and what the expectations are. Give them time to process what’s being asked of them, time to do the task on their own, and time to check in to see how the delegated task is going for them and if they have any questions.