Learning to Delegate Tasks Effectively

"I'll delegate when I find good people." Translation: "I'll trust them after they prove themselves." Plot twist: They can't prove themselves until you trust them. Break the loop. Delegate to develop. Here's how: 1️⃣ What should you delegate? Everything. Not a joke. You need to design yourself completely out of your old job. Set your sights lower and you'll delegate WAY less than you should. But don't freak out: Responsibly delegating this way will take months. 2️⃣ Set Expectations w/ Your Boss The biggest wild card when delegating: Your boss.  Perfection isn't the target. Command is.  - Must-dos: handled  - Who you're stretching   - Mistakes you anticipate   - How you'll address Remember: You're actually managing your boss. 3️⃣ Set Expectations w/ Yourself  Your team will not do it your way.  So you have a choice: - Waste a ton of time trying to make them you?   - Empower them to creatively do it better?  Remember: 5 people at 80% = 400%. 4️⃣ Triage Your Reality - If you have to hang onto something -> do it.  - If you feel guilty delegating a miserable task -> delete it.  - If you can't delegate them anything -> you have a bigger problem. 5️⃣ Delegate for Your Development  You must create space to grow. Start here:   1) Anything partially delegated -> Completion achieves clarity.  2) Where you add the least value -> Your grind is their growth.  3) The routine -> Ripe for a runbook or automation. 6️⃣ Delegate for Their Development Start with the stretch each employee needs to excel. Easiest place to start: ask them how they want to grow. People usually know. And they'll feel agency over their own mastery. Bonus: Challenge them to find & take that work. Virtuous cycle. 7️⃣ Set Expectations w/ Your Team  Good delegation is more than assigning tasks:  - It's goal-oriented  - It's written down  - It's intentional When you assign "Whys" instead of "Whats", You get Results instead of "Buts". 8️⃣ Climb The Ladder Aim for the step that makes you uncomfortable:     - Steps over Tasks  - Processes over Steps  - Responsibilities over Processes  - Goals over Responsibilities   - Jobs over Goals  Each rung is higher leverage. 9️⃣ Don't Undo Good Work Delegating & walking away - You need to trust. But you also need to verify. - Metrics & surveys are a good starting point. Micromanaging - That's your insecurity, not their effort. - Your new job is to enable, motivate & assess, not step in. ✅ Remember: You're not just delegating tasks. - You're delegating goals. - You're delegating growth. - You're delegating greatness. The best time to start was months ago.  The next best time is today. 🔔 Follow Dave Kline for more posts like this. ♻️ And repost to help those leaders who need to delegate more.

Built 3 companies to $200M. Here's what I learned about delegation: Most CEOs think they're bad at delegating. The real problem? They're delegating wrong. The hard truth: You're not protecting your team by doing everything.     You're: Burning yourself out Bottlenecking growth Breaking trust     Your team needs to feel valued, not protected. Here's my proven system:     1. The Mindset Shift I used to think:  "No one can do this as well as me." Reality check:  When I got a concussion and couldn't work, my team excelled.     They just needed space to step up.     2. The Success Formula Before delegating any task, define: • What does success look like? • What's the deadline? • What resources are needed? • How will we measure results?     Clarity creates confidence.     3. The Communication Machine Create clear channels: • Slack = company chatter • Notion = project discussions • Email = external only • Weekly memos = alignment     No one-off conversations about projects. No decisions in DMs.     4. The Trust Test Ask yourself: "Would I pay someone $1M/year to do what I'm doing right now?" If not, why are YOU doing it? Your job is to: • Set vision • Build systems • Lead strategy • Make key decisions Delegate everything else.     5. The Weekly Ritual Every Friday, ask: • What did I do this week that someone else could do? • What meetings could I skip? • Where am I the bottleneck? • What systems need building?     Then take action.     6. The Team Power-Up Your team needs to know: • Where we're going • Why it matters • How they contribute • What success looks like     Give them this clarity, and they'll surprise you. The Final Truth: A CEO doing $10/hour tasks is a $10/hour CEO. Your company needs you operating at your highest level. Delegation isn't about doing less. It's about focusing on what matters most.   ♻️ Repost to help a leader in your network  🔔 Follow Christine Carrillo for more

Your calendar isn’t the problem. You are. Years ago, over dinner with Ben Chestnut, co-founder and former CEO of Intuit Mailchimp, I asked: "I feel like I could be doing more. How do you manage your time and stay so productive?" I expected a magic hack. A silver bullet. Instead, he said: "You don’t have a productivity problem. You have a people problem. Are you delegating? Do you have the right people to delegate to?" Boom. Game over. My entire view of leadership shifted in that moment. Until then, I thought my job at Wistia was to do more: keep my inbox at zero, squeeze every minute, put out every fire myself. But Ben was right. My problem wasn’t time. It was that I wasn’t giving enough ownership away. So I started fully delegating to my senior team. Here’s what happened: → Some thrived and scaled faster than I imagined. → Others struggled and failed quickly. → I learned more about my team in months than I had in years. I had more energy for the things only I could do to move the business forward. Others grew faster, took on more, and their expertise began to shape the company in ways I couldn’t have alone. That’s when it hit me: delegation isn’t just a way to keep your head above water. It’s the difference between running a business and scaling one. After more than a decade of practicing it, here’s how I think about delegation today: 1. The 80% Rule: If someone can do it 80% as well as you, delegate it. 2. Hold Strategy Close: Set clear goals so everyone’s aligned, then give them ownership: highly aligned, loosely coupled. 3. Expect Failures: Some projects and people will fail. Keep failures small, make them lessons, and weigh effort, risk, and learning before stepping in. 4. Feedback is Fuel: Delegation without feedback is bad. Give plenty, especially early. 5. Over-Communicate: As your business grows, repeat the strategy, values, and mission. Keep the big things steady, let the small things evolve. Thank you, Ben, for sparking the insight that changed how I lead. Give the right people absolute ownership and they won’t just free up your time. They’ll take your business where you could never go alone. Where are you holding on too tight, and what might happen if you let go?

The 4 most important #questions to ask yourself if you are to master #DelegatingWELL 1. Why must I delegate! The simple response is, how #far do you think you can walk carrying a load of 100ks on your head? Not far, right? In the same way, if you want to lead for long and not suffer #burnout, you are going to learn to delegate! 2. What should i delegate? This depends but my usual take is; A) #breaking down the task in order of important duties and this then helps me what I should do as a leader, and what I should delegate to others. Sometimes it’s the most important or #delicate part of the assignment. B) Other times I consider what part of the assignment I know #someone else on the team can do a much better job at. Being a leader means getting the best people to do the best job. Not trying to do everything yourself. C) Sometimes I will consider which part of the assignment aligns with #where I am going in life. I have learnt to concentrate my energy on that which is connected with my destiny. This means there are moments I delegate things that fall outside that path but are in line with another’s destiny. D) Things that will take a lot of my time but bring #less results. Sometimes being busy does not mean being productive. Pick your battles well and let others also put in their weight in certain parts of the assignment. E) There are times I will delegate a task to another team #member because I know it will help them grow. Even though I know it’s something I can do, if I realize it will help someone on the team grow, I will sometimes delegate that task. 3. When should I delegate? I am one for delegating #early! And this is for two reasons: A) it brings others in early enough so you can get the task done #faster and B) it helps spread the effort needed to fulfil the task so you do not# burn out. Do not wait to be overwhelmed before you can think of delegating! As soon as you have a clear picture of the assignment and what has to be done, start thinking who should do what! 4. Who do I make sure delegation brings results Keep a #Bird’sEye on everything. This does not mean uncomfortably peeping over people’s shoulders. Set times to #report back on progress from the person/people you have delegated to. That helps to ensure things do not slip through the cracks and that you keep on track in terms of time. Are these things you usually consider? Which of them stands out for you? Cheers 🥂 to building teams that last and win Jose

In the last decade of building Quadrant Technologies, we went from a small team to 2000+ members. It’s been a great ride, but one of the biggest challenges we’ve faced has been ⤵ DELEGATION To be more precise - how to delegate the right way. After conversing with fellow entrepreneurs and mentors, I realized I am not alone. This is something that almost every entrepreneur battles with. 👉 What’s the solution? Over the years, I found a framework immensely successful. We utilize it actively at Quadrant Technologies. Jenny Blake, a career and business strategist & author of the book PIVOT: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One, suggested this 6T delegation framework. Here’s my favourite 6T framework : 1️⃣ TERRIBLE AT: Know your weaknesses and delegate them. You can’t be perfect at every task, and you don’t need to be. Instead, knowing what you are not good at is your strength because now you know what to delegate. 2️⃣ TINY: Small, insignificant tasks that don’t need your attention add up to your to-do list & make you feel overwhelmed. Delegate them sooner. 3️⃣ TEDIOUS: Tasks that are not the best use of your time. As a business owner, your time is precious. Invest it in doing the tasks that move your business forward, and everything else can be done by someone else. 4️⃣ TIME-SENSITIVE: Tasks that need your urgent attention but distract you from the bigger goal. These tasks compete with your priorities. Choose your priority tasks & delegate these time-sensitive tasks. 5️⃣ TEACHABLE: List the tasks that can free up your to-do list if taught. Train your team members & delegate. Once your team is trained, they can always handle that work, saving you time. 6️⃣ TIME-CONSUMING: Delegate the tasks that consume a lot of your time but don’t yield big results. Follow the 80/20 rule here. Delegate the tasks that consume 80% of your time & are only 20% effective. Focus on the tasks that take 20% of your time but give 80% of the results. --------------------- Delegation is a skill that’s learned over time. This is one of the frameworks that helped us immensely in delegating work effectively. What has been your go-to delegation framework/tips? I would love to hear your perspective in the comments. #delegation #leadership

Yesterday, I shared how leaders can reclaim their time by being more intentional with calendars, meetings, and communication. I didn't have space to write about the most important thing: delegation. Delegation isn’t just about handing off tasks, it’s about creating leverage. Here are a few principles that changed how I think about it: 1. Delegate Outcomes, Not Tasks: Share the context, constraints, and what success looks like. Let your team figure out the “how.” 2. Let Go of Perfection: Things won’t be done exactly the way you’d do them, and that’s fine. Focus on results, not control. 3. Give Real Ownership: Don’t delegate and then micromanage. Give people room to make decisions, learn, and improve. 4. Use Delegation to Build Capacity: The more your team grows, the more you can take on as a group. Delegation scales leadership. When you delegate well, you free yourself to focus on what matters most, and give others the chance to grow. That’s not a tradeoff. That’s the job.