“Come to me with questions” only works if your junior employee knows when they need help.
I was talking to a buddy of mine who was describing this recurring issue in his team.
Junior specialists were leaving ad accounts untouched because they were afraid of making mistakes.
He had told them to come to him if they had any questions, but… they didn’t know what to ask.
It’s a tale as old as time (and one that we diagnose pretty frequently in our coaching group for agency owners).
Giving a new employee responsibility without enough support can leave them guessing, or worse: doing nothing.
Three things help:
Boundaries: Make it clear which decisions they can make independently and which need review. For an ads specialist, that might mean implementing approved changes independently while getting approval before reallocating budget.
Examples: Walk through a real piece of work and explain your thinking. Show what you investigated, which options you considered, and why you chose one. A Loom video works great for this.
Visibility: Schedule a regular review instead of waiting for questions. Look at what changed, what didn’t, and why. Ask them to explain their decisions so you can spot gaps that performance numbers alone might miss.
As their judgment improves, you can reduce the oversight. That’s how you, over time, develop someone who can take ownership without needing you to check every decision.
Inside Agency Uplift, we work on building that exact team and operating structure to make you less essential. You get group coaching, implementation support, and frameworks and templates to help put that structure into practice.
If you’re ready to build a team that can operate without you managing every detail, apply to join and let’s get you out of the weeds.