My client is struggling to delegate. Do you have any advice for me?

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You can download our e-book 'The Art of Delegation' here.

Pushed for time? We have also summarised a few key points to keep in mind below.

Step 1 - Make Sure You're On The Same Page!

To understand what your client should delegate, it's useful to first understand what their objectives are. Why did they hire a Virtual Assistant to begin with?

Are they trying to free up more time, so they can simply get home earlier and spend less time working?
Do they want to free up more time to dedicate to clients, their team or other people in their business?
Are they looking to increase sales, and want to spend more time on value-adding marketing work needed to do this?
Do they want to lower their stress levels and achieve greater clarity, with fewer "plates to spin"?

Likewise, on a professional level, what are they hoping your support will achieve for their business?

Improve customer service response time?
Increase new account sign ups?
Grow their social media audience?
Implement new systems, to make existing processes more efficient (and effective!)?

Whatever goals they have in mind, do encourage your client to clearly communicate these with you. The more you know, the more you can help! Talk through why they need your help, and set your relationship together in a wider context.

We know you are highly capable and have helped support many, many people in their position before - be sure to let your client know they can lean on you!

This process also helps set clear priorities for the relationship - both for you and your client.

Step 2 - Define A Clear Role

Once you're working towards a common goal, the next step is to define exactly what you can do to get them there. What do you need to do?

Work together to create a list of repeatable and ad-hoc tasks that you are going to be responsible for (and make sure these tasks are clearly explained).

Not sure where to start? Suggest your client makes a list of everything they are working on this week - this is why a to-do list app like TickTick is useful, as you'll always have a note of what they are working on and what they've already completed - and then separate out those tasks. You may spot some ideas in there that your client hasn't even considered taking off their plate!

They can then look at their to do list and see what they should be doing out of those tasks and what they would prefer not to be focusing on.

First start with one-off tasks that require little explanation. This could be planning an event, reviewing a document for typos, researching X. Delegating these smaller tasks helps get the ball rolling - you'll start clearing their plate and get things moving for them. This gives space for them to think more clearly about a longer-term role. It's also very motivating as they will see things happening - and satisfying for you too!
Next, look at ad-hoc tasks. These are things that crop up from time to time. These require more explanation, sure, but the benefit is that, long-term, they'll always be taken care of. This could be making website updates, booking travel arrangements or creating content (e.g. an eBook). Once they explain the process behind these tasks, they can delegate them going forward.
The ultimate goal is to create a role based largely around recurring, day-to-day tasks. These are the things that take up most of their time and, therefore, need the most explanation and training, however will reap the most value by being delegated. This could be managing their inbox and diary, billing and onboarding customers, managing new enquiries, managing social media channels. These are the tasks that eat up their precious time. Once handed over to you, they can enjoy the benefit of having an uninterrupted day ahead to focus on what really matters to them!

We'd recommend you start with the quick wins, the 'low-hanging fruit', but the most important point is to not stop there. Focusing on one-off tasks requires them to continually explain a task, every single time they need help, and this will soon prove frustrating and probably delay things. Ensuring they make a concerted effort to delegate recurring tasks - the ones that require some upfront training, but then can be left to you to take care of every single day - is where the real magic starts to happen.

Step 3 - Define Your Expectations

As well as understanding the practical task instructions, it’s important to understand what the client's expectations are.

Do some of the tasks need to be completed in a certain way?
Is there a “house style” or best practice within the company or industry you should follow?
Are there key deadlines involved? Are these business critical or simply a preference?
What other tasks or projects does this task relate to?

Leaving out key information can lead to you making educated assumptions and, naturally, your client might not have made the same assumptions.

Taking an extra few minutes to carve out a better explanation now will save you both more time (and add more value) further on down the line.

Step 4 - Encourage New Ideas!

In most cases, they'll often know what they want to achieve on some level, but they might be unsure of the best way to get there (or even what the end result should look like exactly). Likewise, you will want to contribute in the most valuable and meaningful way to them and their business.

Step 5 - Communicate Consistently

Even if your client has allowed you to be incredibly self-sufficient, it's important that you "check in" with them from time to time.

On a practical level, it's always beneficial for you both to have a dedicated time (e.g. a weekly or monthly phone call) to communicate, ask each other questions and see how tasks are progressing.

But on a more strategic level, it's important to remember that the client and their business is not set in stone. Things change! Once you've been working together for some time, it's likely your goals have changed - perhaps they are now getting back to customers at lightning speed as they wanted to, and getting home from the office before 6pm is more common than not. But what next?

Make sure that you occasionally review what you are doing for your client, but also, most importantly, why.

My client is struggling to delegate. Do you have any advice for me?

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