Deciding What to Delegate

The Core Meaning of Delegation

Delegation is not simply handing work to someone else. It involves transferring two distinct things: responsibility for completing the task and authority to make the decisions that come with it. You still hold accountability for the final outcome, which means the transfer of work does not remove your ownership of results.

The Two-Step Delegation Check

To evaluate any task, ask two questions in order. First, does this task require your direct involvement? If yes, keep it. If no, ask whether someone on the team has the skills to handle it effectively, or can develop those skills. Only when the second answer is also yes does the task qualify for delegation.

Tasks That Cannot Be Delegated

A task stays with you when it genuinely requires your direct involvement, such as setting a project timeline where your judgment and authority are essential. A task also cannot be delegated when no team member currently has the skills to handle it and there is no realistic path to developing them in time.

Tasks That Are Suitable for Delegation

A task is a strong candidate for delegation when your direct involvement is not essential and a capable team member can handle it. Preparing a client presentation, for example, meets both criteria. When you identify these tasks, choosing the right person for the task becomes the next step.

Delegation as a Workload Management Tool

Working through the two-step check across your full task list lets you concentrate on the work that genuinely needs you. This frees up capacity for higher-priority decisions without abandoning the rest. Pairing good delegation decisions with giving clear and actionable instructions and managing team operations and priorities keeps the broader workload on track.

Stella is a first-time manager, facing a tight delivery timeline. She reviews her growing list of tasks and decides to delegate some tasks to her team. Delegation is the process of transferring responsibility for completing the task and authority to make relevant decisions while retaining accountability for the outcomes. To decide what to delegate, Stella uses a simple two-step check. She first asks, 'Does this task require my direct involvement?' If the answer is yes, the task cannot be delegated. If the answer is no, she moves to the second question. Is there someone on the team who has the skills or can develop them to handle the task effectively? If the answer is yes, the task can be delegated. If the answer to both questions is ‘No’, the task cannot be delegated at this time. For example, setting a timeline for the task requires Stella’s direct involvement, so it cannot be delegated to someone else. In contrast, preparing a client presentation may not require her direct involvement, and a team member can handle it effectively, so it can be delegated. Through effective delegation, Stella can manage her workload and focus on what matters most.