Most owners have tried handing off a decision. Most have also watched it boomerang straight back to their desk within two weeks.
It usually goes like this. You tell someone “you handle it” and walk away. They’re not sure how far they’re allowed to go, so they play it safe and bring you anything with a wrinkle in it. You get frustrated, take it back, and decide delegation doesn’t work.
The fix is to give that person three things when you hand over the decision:
Responsibility.
What result are they accountable for? What does done look like? If they were to do it a different way, but came up with the same outcome, would you be ok?
Authority.
What can they decide without checking with you? If they don’t know what decisions they can make on their own and what they need approval for, they will ask you for approval on everything.
Boundaries.
When does it genuinely need to come back to you? If you set up responsibiliity and authority, this one becomes easy. You have put the markers in place when they outside their boundaries and when they can keep moving forward.
Hand off the task.
Write all three of the above down and go through them together.
Ten minutes of clarity up front saves you months of the same conversation.
Here’s your homework, and skip the calendar audit this week. Look at your last ten decisions. Find three that belong to someone else. Pick one, answer those three questions for it, and transfer it.
Do that repeatedly and your 50-hour week starts to look different. You’ll get through the week at the same pace, with far fewer things that need you.
Cheers to you working less on being busy and on the things only you can do!
PS: The first handoff will feel uncomfortable. By the third, you’ll wonder why you held on so long.