Last Updated on May 30, 2025 by Dave Schoenbeck
Most business owners understand the importance of successful delegation in management: you can only do so much work in a day. I’ve written a whole blog post about how delegating is vital to the success of your business. Where people go wrong, however, is assuming that successful delegation is as simple as handing off a task and expecting it to get done. Genuinely successful delegation in management requires a more hands-on approach and frequent communication.
Here are five steps to learn how to delegate successfully to your business.
1. Decide what you can delegate.
Forbes emphasizes the importance of not delegating tasks that you wouldn’t do yourself: while it’s tempting to hand off all your tedious work to employees, that type of work won’t make them feel important or valued. Successful delegation in management requires you to be strategic about what you’re delegating.
There might be a lot of work that you enjoy doing, but it ultimately wastes your time. These are the tasks to delegate: the important but not necessarily urgent responsibilities that prevent you from attending to the critical and urgent matters. You want your employees to feel like they’re doing valuable work while freeing up your schedule for tasks that only you can handle.
2. Be specific in your expectations.
When giving directions, it’s essential to be as specific as possible and leave nothing to interpretation. Your vision might make sense to you, but your words can have a completely different meaning for your employees.
If possible, provide examples of what you’re looking for and encourage your employees to ask questions to prevent miscommunications.
3. Schedule regular follow-ups.
As I always say, when it comes to delegation, you can expect only what you inspect. That means checking in on your employees to ensure their tasks progress, rather than waiting until the deadline to see if there’s a problem.
Set reminders on your calendar to follow up with employees working on your delegated tasks. This can be an in-person meeting, a Skype call, or a progress report. However, it’s better to set aside a block of time to talk to your employees rather than just emailing them, as this shows you value the task at hand.
Aim to chat with them at several points to see how they’re doing. This allows employees to share any questions or obstacles with you early on, enabling you to steer a project back in the right direction if it has gotten off track.
4. Allow time for revisions.
This might be a no-brainer, but don’t wait until the last minute to delegate a big assignment. It would be helpful if you allowed time to explain the assignment, check in with your employee, and ensure there’s time for changes to be made in case they’ve started incorrectly.
It can help assign several mini-deadlines for different parts of the assignment throughout the process, allowing you to check them before the whole thing is complete.
5. Work with your employees.
If an employee doesn’t meet your expectations, discuss with them what went wrong. It’s one thing to have a misunderstanding, but continuously missing the bar can signify a lack of cohesion that might indicate a broader issue.
Communicate with your employee to determine if an underlying issue is preventing them from succeeding in their tasks. According to the Free Management Library, working together toward improvement ensures accountability and dependability for future projects. Over time, this can shape an underperforming employee into a driven and successful team member.
Successful delegation and leadership go hand-in-hand, and successful delegation in management is vital to the long-term success of your organization. If you have been frustrated by delegation and leadership issues, fill out my contact form for a complimentary coaching call to discuss some ideas.
Coach Dave
