Client Journey: Owners who don’t delegate enough

In article:

Why business owners struggle to delegate

With an economy dominated by small businesses, it is perhaps unsurprising that business owners are heavily involved in day-to-day business operations. On the latest statistics, more than 97 percent of Australian businesses are small with fewer than 19 employees. To some extent, it is inevitable that a small business owner will have a heavy burden (there are few people to delegate to). Beyond the practicalities, there is also a substantial psychological component — small business owners have put their blood, sweat and tears into the business and delegation can feel like giving up control (read more on this issue in our article explaining why running a small business is harder than running a big business). 

Nevertheless, there are several reasons why a failure to delegate can hold a business back, and we explore these below. 

Why under-delegation is a problem

Not delegating enough work can have significant consequences for business owners. It can mean: 

• Poor work/life balance. Trying to do everything yourself means an unreasonable load and might lead to burnout.
• Workflow inefficiency/bottlenecks. A lack of delegation means that everything has to go through the business owner, and this can substantially slow down the efficiency of the business (read more in our article on the technical background of Australian business owners). 
• Tasks get missed/over-looked. If the business owner is overworked, it is inevitable that at some point the owner will miss something important. 
• Stifled staff development. If the owner doesn’t delegate, then staff don’t have the opportunity to step up and prove that they can deliver at a higher level. 
• Less trust within the company. For some staff, under-delegation makes them feel as though they are not sufficiently trusted with high-responsibility tasks.
• Poor business resilience and disaster planning. If something goes wrong, and the owner becomes seriously ill, the business will grind to a halt. Relatedly, there is an inherent limitation on scaling the business if the owner must be involved at all times. 
• Neglected strategic focus. Not delegating enough means “too much time spent in the business, rather than on the business”. A business owner needs to make some runway to focus on business strategy, rather than being entirely reactive. 

 Key steps to improve delegation

For business owners who do not delegate enough, or unsure whether they delegate enough, what steps should they take? We suggest: 

• A task stocktake: List all the tasks that you take on as a business owner every week. From accounting, to HR, to diary management, to actual business operations. Once you have a full list of business tasks, you can begin sorting through those tasks. 
• Categorise your tasks methodically. There are different methods that a business owner could use for working out which of those tasks could be delegated. One popular one is the ‘Eisenhower Box’ (also known as the Eisenhower matrix). This means distinguishing which tasks are urgent/non-urgent and which are important/non-important, and on that basis, taking one of four actions — do (urgent + important), decide when it will be done (non-urgent + important), delegate (urgent + non-important) or delete (non-urgent + non-important). 
• Delegate straightforward tasks. Some of those tasks, such as diary management or invoice management should be able to be delegated immediately. 
• Come up with a plan for more complex tasks. Difficult or complex tasks can, of course, still be delegated. However, it usually costs more to do so: Revenue and profitability will ultimately determine how to delegate those tasks. If the task is substantial and ongoing, it will often make sense to hire an employee to do it. If you can afford to hire a highly skilled person, this will often be the sensible option. However, if you can only afford someone who needs substantial training, be realistic about how much time this will take up. For some tasks — particularly those that are more sporadic — using an independent contractor or an agency may be a good option. That way, the business can more easily stop the service if it needs to do so. 

Who and what can help? 

How and when to delegate is not a decision that must be made and implemented on your own. Some things that may be able to help include: 

• Business coaches. They may provide a valuable outside perspective to help develop a delegation plan. 
• Peer group/support. Other business owners in the industry may be available to share their own delegation methods. 
• Project management software. Platforms and apps like Trello, ClickUp and Asana can be used to delegate tasks to specific team members and for the business owner to retain oversight of delegated tasks. 

Delegation — why it’s in your interests 

Neglecting to delegate is almost inevitable for small business owners. Because delegation implies giving up control — and small business owners have a lot at stake in their business. However, it is worth recognising that a smart delegation strategy will make the business more efficient, and may just save the business owner’s health in the long run. At the same time, a business owner who thoughtfully analyses delegation will also tend to have a better strategic grasp on their business overall.