How to Delegate in Business (Without Losing Control or Creating More Work for Yourself)
Can I be honest?
Most people don’t struggle with how to delegate in business because they’re bad leaders or total control freaks.
They struggle because they tried delegating once… and let’s just say it didn’t go as planned.
Tasks got missed.
Something got done wrong.
They spent more time explaining than if they’d just done it themselves.
Or worse, more time undoing the mistakes and getting it done right.
So now, they’re either swearing off delegation forever or they’re Googling things like “how to delegate in business” late at night, half-exhausted and wondering how everyone else just magically knows how to do this.
If you’re the latter, I want you to know there is a way to delegate that doesn’t leave you cleaning up messes or feeling like you’re babysitting your own business.
Most business owners try to delegate tasks without having decided on the bigger picture and getting clear on where in their business they want to spend their time and energy. So starting to delegate goes something like:
“Here, can you just take this off my plate?”
But there’s no system or bigger context given because it’s being done in a state of urgency.
So let’s talk about how you can set yourself (and your team member) up for continued ease and success.
The question I always ask first (and no, it’s not “what should I delegate?”)
Before you make a list of tasks, ask this instead:
What do I not want to be responsible for holding in my head anymore?
Because delegation is a lot more about freeing up mental space than it is about offloading tasks.
For some people, that’s:
- remembering to post content
- tracking deadlines or payments
- taking care of client touchpoints
- keeping launches organized
If you start with mental weight instead of task categories, delegation suddenly feels less overwhelming and more relieving.
Why “start with small tasks” isn’t always great advice
You’ll hear this advice a lot:
“Just start small. Delegate the easy stuff first.”
And sometimes, sure, that works.
But most of the time, delegating tiny, disconnected tasks actually creates more work, because now you’re constantly answering questions and trying to remember which piece of the larger project you’re still responsible for.
What tends to work better is delegating ownership of projects, not just assigning tasks.
Instead of: “Can you upload this blog post?”
Try: “Can you own the blog publishing process each week once content is finalized?”
Upfront, it’s the same effort to explain, but in the long-term, you’re saving yourself so much back-and-forth because the whole blog publishing process will be off your plate.
This is one of the biggest mindset shifts in delegating tasks as a business owner and almost no one talks about it.
If you’re afraid of losing control, read this.
I know a lot of business owners who put off hiring because at the root of it, they’re afraid of being disappointed.
They’re afraid something will go out that doesn’t sound like them.
They’re afraid they’ll look unprofessional.
They’re afraid it might lead to more work to fix things if they go wrong.
So here’s the reframe that helps:
When delegating, you aren’t letting go of control. You’re deciding where control actually matters.
You don’t need to control:
- every call replay
- every draft
- every internal step
But it’s totally okay if you do want control over:
- decisions
- final emails
- content creation
When you get real about what you’re okay letting go of, delegating stops feeling like abandonment and starts feeling like leadership.
One thing that makes delegation 10x easier (and calmer)
Everyone is talking about SOPs these days. And if you want to spend time creating them or paying someone else to create them, I’m not saying that’s a totally bad call.
But you’ll probably feel relieved to know there is a much simpler way to get on the same page with your VA or team member, even if you don’t have 12-page documented processes for everything you want their help with.
Here’s how make delegating super simple:
- Create an SOP library in Google Drive, Asana, etc.
- Use Zoom, Loom, or a similar video screen recording tool to record your screen as you talk through the steps.
- Share your SOP library that includes video SOPs with your team member, along with details like:
- If you want them to come to you for approval before finalizing any step (like before sending out the email or publishing the blog post).
- How to contact you if they have questions.
- How to notify you once the project is complete.
- If you’re already using a task manager like Asana, this will be simple but if you haven’t gotten that set up yet either, do you want them to email you as soon as it’s done, send you a weekly project round-up email, message you in Slack, etc?
So often, delegation fails because the other person is guessing what success looks like (and guessing wrong), so we want expectations to be clear from the beginning.
What “I don’t have time to delegate” really means
When people think they’re too busy to start delegating, what they really mean is that:
- they’re already overwhelmed
- everything feels urgent
- it feels risky
- and again, if it goes wrong, they’ll be in an even worse spot having to untangle the mess
Here’s the truth I want you to hear (said with love):
If you never slow down enough to delegate properly, you will always be the bottleneck to your business’s potential.
Let’s keep in mind that being busy in business is a great problem to have. But it does mean your business is asking you to evolve. This becomes the perfect moment for business owners to start searching for delegation strategies so that they can not only keep growing, but also have breathing room and avoid burning out.
The difference between delegating and dumping
This is important.
Dumping is:
“Here, take this. I can’t deal with it.”
Delegating is:
“Here’s what this is, why it matters, and how it fits into the bigger picture.”
Even if we’re talking about delegating the same task, the two approaches above will create a completely different experience for both you and your team member.
If delegation has felt heavy in the past, it’s probably because the emotional labor never got acknowledged. Most people do better work when they understand why something matters and not just what to do.
You don’t need to delegate everything to delegate well
Another myth worth letting go of:
“If I don’t delegate a ton, I’m failing.”
The most successful, calmest business owners I know delegate selectively.
They keep:
- creative decision-making
- growth vision
- client relationships
- visibility and content strategy
And they delegate the behind-the-scenes coordinating, organizing, and following through.
That balance is allowed.
Learning how to delegate without losing control often looks like choosing what stays sacred and not just giving everything away.
The moment you’re probably ready to delegate (even if you’re resisting it)
If any of these are true:
- you’re redoing work constantly
- things fall through the cracks only when you’re busy
- you avoid starting projects because managing them feels exhausting
- your brain feels louder than your workload
That’s your cue.
And you don’t need to hire an entire team, switch platforms or overhaul everything. You can decide to simply stop carrying it all alone.
Delegation is a system, not a personality trait
Some people naturally love to delegate and others hate it.
But to be honest, this is what really matters:
Delegation works best when it’s built into your systems, not dependent on your brain, mood or energy level.
When tasks live somewhere other than your head, you don’t have to get ready or feel ready to delegate.
It just becomes how your business operates.
If you want help with this (without being told to “just let go”)
If delegation feels sticky for you, it’s usually because you haven’t been supported in setting it up.
When I start supporting clients, we start by:
- clarifying what should be delegated
- deciding how it fits into your real life
- building simple systems so you’re not micromanaging
- making delegation feel like relief, not risk
If that sounds supportive, I invite you to learn more about my monthly support or book a call to get started.