Coffee Chat Take 2: Why Delegation Isn’t Working (And What to Do Instead)

Welcome to another Coffee Chat Take! A bite-sized episode designed to feel like a quick voice note from a friend who gets it.

Today, we’re sitting down for a real talk about delegation. If you’ve hired help but still feel like you’re juggling everything yourself, this one’s for you.

We’re unpacking a truth that might shift everything: Delegation isn’t failing. You’re just delegating without being correctly prepared.

In this short but powerful episode, I’m talking about the real reason delegation often fails. And it has nothing to do with who you hired. Without the right systems, even the most skilled support person is left guessing. And that guesswork? It creates more stress, not less.

So if you’re ready to stop spinning your wheels and start getting the help you actually need, this is your sign to slow down and start with clarity.

Mentioned in this episode:

Episode 138 - Mastering the Art of Delegation: Overcoming Disorganization and Reclaiming Control of Your Back Office

Episode 166 - Two Solutions to Help You Stop Being the Bottleneck In Your Business

Episode 212 - The 6 Core Systems Your Business Needs to Grow Without Burnout

Episode 214 - Stop Hiring in Chaos: How to Delegate Successfully

Grab the Back Office POWER Checklist here. It’s your first step to building a business that supports you, not burns you out.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Okay, I want you to imagine we're sitting across
from each other in a cozy littlecoffee shop at a corner table,
soft music playing in thebackground.
It's the kind of space where wecan exhale and catch up.
So you take a sip of your latte, set your cup down and you lean
in and you say let me ask yousomething.

(00:23):
Why doesn't delegation work forme?
Wow, that one hits deep, right.
Well, here's what I'd say, verygently but honestly you didn't
fail at delegating because ofwho you hired.
You hired into chaos.
Your business just wasn't readyto be supported.

(00:45):
Now, I apologize if that stunga bit, but it's probably because
you've done what the so-calledsuccessful entrepreneurs and
gurus say you should do.
You hired help because you wereoverwhelmed, and if you have
not hit this wall yet, let mehelp you avoid it.
And if you have not hit thiswall yet, let me help you avoid

(01:05):
it.
The number one reason thatdelegation fails is because of
the chaos that people are hiredinto.
If there are no systems inplace, no workflows, therefore
no clear expectations, itdoesn't matter who you hire.
They're going to be leftguessing and guess what.
That leads to mistakes,mistakes lead to micromanaging,

(01:28):
and then suddenly you're back atdoing it all yourself.
So when you hire before you'veprepared your business, this is
usually what happens.
You hand off the stuff that'sbeen weighing you down, but
somehow it still feels likeyou're doing everything.
You're still answeringquestions, you're still double
checking everything, you'restill working late nights to fix

(01:50):
things that didn't get done theright way or the way you want
it.
So that's when you really startto wonder well, did I hire the
wrong person?
Well, here's the thing thatdoubt, that frustration we feel
when it comes to outsourcing isnot a reflection of your
leadership and it didn't workout because you hired the wrong
person.

(02:10):
Let me share one of my clients'experiences with you to
emphasize what I've said so far.
We're going to call her Carla.
Carla thought that hiring wouldgive her back time, but instead
she was constantly explainingthe same things, repeating steps
and wondering why everything inher business still depended on
her, although she had hired help.

(02:31):
And she went through thisprocess multiple times, thinking
it was just the person shehired.
She hired the wrong person.
And Carla, she also listened tothis podcast.
So after listening to twospecific episodes, she decided
it was time for her to book acall with me and get some help.
The episodes she listened toare two solutions to help you

(02:52):
stop being the bottleneck inyour business and mastering the
art of delegation, overcomingdisorganization and reclaiming
control of your back office.
So after that, she booked thePower in Motion Jumpstart S
session so that I can help hertake a closer look at the back
end of her business and she canget a 30 day action plan and
start fixing what was broken.

(03:12):
And as we look closer at theback end of her business, we
realize no surprise, it wasn'twho she hired, it was the back
end of her business.
There was no central place forfiles.
There was no real documentationon how to do things.
Everything lived in her head.
So there was no way that anyonethat she hired would stand a

(03:33):
chance, because none of us aremind readers.
So we paused, we slowed thingsdown a bit and we used the back
office power checklist to assesswhere the gaps were in her back
office.
That's when things started toshift.
And the good news is she didn'thave to burn it all down and
start over.
She just needed to clear thefog so that the next person she

(03:57):
hired could see what to do, howto do it and she could trust
that they were doing it right.
And then, at the right time,delegation would actually feel
like support instead of morework.
And if you're sitting therelistening and nodding along
because things are feeling thisway in your business, you're
getting discovery calls, clientsare saying yes, but your back

(04:19):
end hasn't caught up to yourgrowth.
You're onboarding new clientsmanually every time.
Client expectations feeldifferent with each project and
it's really it's starting towear you down.
Understand it's not that you'redoing anything wrong.
You've obviously builtsomething powerful, but now it's
time for you to protect it bygetting at least the six core

(04:42):
systems in place, becausescaling a service-based business
without systems that's howBurnup shows up dressed as
success.
So here's what I want you totake away from all of this
Delegation it doesn't start whenyou hire.
It starts by preparing yourbusiness before you hire, and

(05:02):
that's where the back officepower checklist comes in.
It's a tool to help you take anhonest look at your backend so
that you can see how ready ornot your business is to be
supported, because you don'tneed to do more, you just need
to build a business that'seasier to support.
So if delegation has felt heavyin the past or it feels heavy

(05:23):
now.
This is your cue to pause andslow things down.
Grab that back office powerchecklist and start creating a
business that can be supported,and you'll get the kind of
support that lightens your loadinstead of adding more to it,
because clarity has to comefirst and once you have that,
delegation actually becomes therelief that it was meant to be.

(05:47):
So I look forward to seeing youback here next week for our
regular episode and in two weeksfor another coffee chat tape.
Now, if there's something inparticular you would like for me
to talk about during thesechats, please feel free to DM me
on Instagram, at the underscoreShannon Baker, or at Mind, your
Time Podcast.
I would love to hear from you.
You're going to find a link tothe Back Office Power Checklist

(06:08):
in the show notes.
Please go grab it and let'sstart to clear the chaos
together.
So that's your coffee chat takefor today.
No pressure, just progress.
So I'll see you next time.