Guide
Delegate a task without doing it twice
A simple handoff process that prevents you from quietly redoing the work yourself.
Explain the outcome, not just the task
'Get this newsletter out every Tuesday' is a task. 'Get this newsletter out every Tuesday, aiming for 30%+ open rate' is an outcome. People make better decisions when they know what success actually looks like.
Show, don't just tell, for the first handoff
Do the task once together, or record a short screen-share walking through it. A five-minute video saves far more time than a written explanation that gets half-followed.
Let the first attempt be imperfect on purpose
Resist fixing it yourself the first time it's not quite right. Give specific feedback and let them redo it. Fixing it yourself teaches them that mistakes get quietly cleaned up, not corrected.
Set a check-in point, not constant oversight
Agree on when you'll review progress (end of day, end of the week) rather than checking in every hour. Constant oversight isn't delegation, it's just supervised doing-it-yourself.
Fully let go once it's working
Once someone has successfully done a task three or four times, stop reviewing it in detail. Spot-check occasionally instead. Continuing to double-check finished work signals you don't actually trust the handoff.
That’s the whole thing.
Keep going
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