Choose the first delegation: suitable work, a capable receiver and complete effort
A superintendent finds herself handling the delivery log, routine photos and several difficult approval questions. A lead hand has offered help. Handing over the first three tasks would clear a list quickly, but their preparation, access and decision limits differ and the lead hand already has a full work assignment.
Choose a first delegation from the task and its actual receiver, not a universal list of three duties. Look for useful, bounded work that someone can competently accept with appropriate support and authority. Count the receiving person's workload, handover and checking effort. Delegation can improve responsibility and capacity without guaranteeing immediate free hours or turning unfamiliar work into competence after one instruction session.
Compare candidates before handing one over
- Observe your actual recurring work. Record representative tasks, their complete effort, deadlines and dependencies. Identify which work must remain with its actual authorized role and which can be reassigned through the relevant process. A task's repeated occurrence makes it worth examining; repetition alone does not make it safe, simple or suitable for any available person.
- Check a candidate and a possible receiver together. Define the output, needed information, conditions and consequences of error. Discuss the person's competence, access, current load and support needs. Obtain necessary management agreement. Do not assign record handling or photographs without the approved access arrangements, or assume a colleague's willingness means their other duties can be abandoned.
- Arrange a bounded, received handover. Provide current references, the quality check, actual timing and decision limits. Ask the receiver to show how they will complete and route the work. Agree questions and exceptions, including what must return for review. Start with a suitable scope rather than giving away several interdependent duties merely to meet a numerical delegation target.
- Review the complete trial effort and result. Check the received output against its agreed standard and note handover, support, correction and review time for both people. Resolve unclear instructions and workload conflicts. Decide whether to continue or change the arrangement from that evidence. A reduction in your handling time is not automatically a reduction in the team's total effort or proof that supervision can end.
Common mistakes
- Choosing a fixed number of tasks before checking their risk and interfaces.
- Assuming willingness establishes capacity or competence.
- Handing over a task without its exception and review routes.
- Counting only the delegator's reduced handling time.
Action list
Select the first delegation with
- Observed duties, complete effort and actual deadlines.
- A bounded output and real authority limits.
- A competent receiver with capacity and access.
- Received instructions, support and a quality check.
- A review of both people's effort and the actual result.
Check your understanding
The receiver spends longer on the task than you did. Was the handover necessarily wrong?
