Delegation is the transfer of responsibility for completing particular tasks from one person to another.
Simple.
Except when it’s not.
Delegation may be a straightforward concept, but it is not always easy to do - and do well - especially for new leaders.
But delegation is an essential leadership skill and effective delegation is important because it directly impacts:
performance and job satisfaction - both yours and your teams
team spirit and culture, and
your credibility as a leader.
Why is delegation hard?
There are lots of interconnected reasons why new leaders find it hard to delegate. Here are some of the main ones:
The ‘do it yourself’ trap: new leaders typically have strong individual contributor skills (which got them promoted in the first place). So delegation feels inefficient because they’ll often believe that they can do the job faster or better themselves.
Guilt: The psychological transition from "doer" to "leader" creates an initial sense of role confusion. New leaders often feel guilty about not being hands-on with the actual work - and guilty about pushing it on to somebody else, especially when they are former peers.
Perception fears: New leaders can be reluctant to delegate through fear of being perceived as lazy by team members and others.
Perfectionist standards: Perfectionist tendencies and high personal standards can also make it difficult for new leaders to accept that others might approach tasks differently or produce different quality results.
Skill gaps: Lack of delegation systems and skills means early attempts can fail, reinforcing a new leader’s belief that it's easier to just do everything themselves.
Confidence gap: New leaders often lack confidence in themselves as leaders. So, they can struggle with many of the key leadership tasks, including delegation, through self-doubt and lack of experience.
As a new leader, you might be struggling for any or all of these reasons. But, help is at hand. There is some useful research we can tap into that highlights how delegation can be successfully done.
In summary and as expanded on below, good delegation requires clear communication, trust, alignment with team members’ skills, and supportive leadership behaviours.
Here is what the research tells us.
Key Strategies for Effective Delegation
Match Tasks to Skills and Reputation: Leaders should delegate tasks based on employees’ competence and their reputation within the team. (Venkataramani et al., 2021).
In other words, get to know what your team members are good at and what kind of work they like to do, then delegate tasks around the team accordingly.
Create Trust and Open Communication: Building trust and maintaining open, frequent communication are essential when delegating. Delegation is most effective when leaders provide clear expectations, support, and feedback, and when team members feel empowered and trusted. (Banywana, 2025; Pellegrini & Scandura, 2006).
So, make clear what it is expected, help the team member get the resources, information, introductions etc. that they might need. Also, be available for questions, support and feedback as the task is being completed. (see also Pellegrini & Scandura, 2006; Lepez, 2023).
Focus on Developmental Tasks: Assigning tasks that require new skill development increases employee commitment and engagement. (Park et al., 2020).
This is a powerful one. Give people tasks that help them develop in areas they are keen to develop in.
Ask, don’t order: The leader’s behaviour during delegation—such as a kind and supportive approach—can significantly influence outcomes Ugoani, 2020).
This is interesting. Leaders get more success with delegation if they are polite, supportive and if they ask, rather than order, the team member to do the task. Explain why you need it done and why they are the right person to do it and you’ll find things often fall into place.
Avoid Micromanagement: New leaders often struggle with letting go of control. Research emphasises the importance of resisting micromanagement and instead empowering team members to take ownership of delegated tasks (Custovic & Insaurralde, 2016; Mirkhan et al., 2024).
You will know yourself how annoying it is to have somebody looking over your shoulder all the time. Don’t do it. Delegate, be available, but let your team member get on with it.
Why Successful Delegation is Important
Delegating well is critical because it helps leaders manage their own workload and that of their team in the most efficient ways. It is an essential part of dealing with the sense of overload that often arises for leaders who are new in role, freeing up the leader to lead rather than do.
It is also a vital way to help team members develop and feel valued. When leaders align work with the strengths, capabilities and development needs of delegates, it enables team members to hone skills and carry out their work with greater intrinsic motivation.
Good delegation also builds good organisational culture and a culture that values trust, empowerment, and open communication supports effective delegation (Banywana, 2025). So delegating well both reflects and helps create the right culture.
Delegation also improves perceptions of a leader’s ability and likability, which in turn boosts job satisfaction and performance for all parties (Drescher, 2017; Choy et al., 2016).
Conclusion
As we’ve seen, the research shows us that new leaders are most effective when they delegate in a supportive way that aligns tasks with team members strengths, capabilities and interests.
So new leaders should take heart that delegation done well not only reduces your personal workload, it improves your leadership skills, creates increased job satisfaction among your team members and and helps boost you reputation as a leader.
References
Venkataramani, V., Bartol, K., Zheng, X., Lu, S., & Liu, X. (2021). Not very competent but connected: Leaders' use of employee social networks as prisms to make delegation decisions.. The Journal of applied psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000902
Drescher, G. (2017). Delegation outcomes: perceptions of leaders and follower’s satisfaction. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 32, 2-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-05-2015-0174
Custovic, E., & Insaurralde, C. (2016). From engineer to manager, mastering the transition: effective delegation. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 44, 23-25. https://doi.org/10.1109/EMR.2016.2568764
Banywana, A. (2025). Effective Delegation Techniques for School Administrators. RJ Journals . https://doi.org/10.59298/rijciam/2025/411316
Park, H., Carter, K., & Phillips, J. (2020). What to Delegate and How to Delegate Matter., 2020, 16957. https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2020.16957abstract
Choy, J., Mccormack, D., & Djurkovic, N. (2016). Leader-member exchange and job performance. Journal of Management Development, 35, 104-119. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-06-2015-0086
Ugoani, J. (2020). Effective Delegation and Its Impact on Employee Performance. Human Resource Management & Organizational Behavior eJournal.
Lepez, C. (2023). Invisible challenges in healthcare leadership. Health Leadership and Quality of Life. https://doi.org/10.56294/hl202335
Pellegrini, E., & Scandura, T. (2006). Leader–member exchange (LMX), paternalism, and delegation in the Turkish business culture: An empirical investigation. Journal of International Business Studies, 37, 264-279. https://doi.org/10.1057/PALGRAVE.JIBS.8400185
Mirkhan, S., Omer, S., Ali, H., Hamza, M., Hamad, R., & Nedunchezhian, P. (2024). Effective Delegation and Leadership in Software Management. ArXiv, abs/2405.01612. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2405.01612