New managers tend to make one of two mistakes with delegation—and both come from the same root cause: not trusting the process enough to let go of control.
The first mistake is under-delegating. A new manager keeps doing the technical work they were promoted for, because it's familiar and they're good at it, while their actual management responsibilities—coaching, planning, removing obstacles for the team—get squeezed into the gaps. This burns the manager out and starves the team of the guidance they actually need.
The second mistake is over-delegating without support. A new manager hands off a task correctly, but doesn't check in, doesn't clarify what "done" looks like, and disappears until the deadline—then is surprised when the result isn't what they expected. Delegation without a feedback loop isn't delegation, it's just hoping.
The fix for both is the same: delegate the outcome, not just the task, and set a short check-in early rather than a long one late. A five-minute conversation on day two catches a wrong assumption before it costs a week of wasted work.
It also helps to delegate slightly before you feel ready. Most new managers wait until they're fully confident in someone before delegating meaningfully to them—but people build that confidence by being given real responsibility, not by watching someone else do the job.
We cover this directly in our Leadership & Management course, alongside the wider skills of motivating a team, working through different behavioural styles, and leading with more confidence in your first year as a manager.