When to do it yourself: assess the actual role and complete handover effort
The superintendent considers asking her assistant to lead the first coordination walk with a new glazing foreman. She also has routine follow-up messages to prepare. Keeping both seems quicker today, but she has not separated the introduction and decision roles from the later record and chasing work.
Choose who should do the work from its actual requirements and the complete effort involved. Your authority, a particular relationship, an initial coordination need or a genuinely isolated contribution may justify keeping a task. These are useful prompts, not four exhaustive rules. Speed alone does not bypass required competence or review, and doing something once does not qualify another person to undertake it next time.
Keep a task for a reason you can review
- Separate the contributions inside the task. Identify what needs your attendance or decision and what might be prepared, recorded or followed up by someone else. Check actual responsibilities and required competence. A walk may contain an introduction, a coordination question and a technical inspection; do not treat your attendance as authority to perform every part or transfer them all together.
- Compare complete feasible arrangements. Consider the receiver's capacity, current information, explanation, checking and handover effort as well as your own time. Include future repeat work where relevant. Do not claim that a brief task is always cheaper to keep: a clear first handover may support later work, while repeated explanation may signal that the arrangement or resources need attention.
- Record what you are keeping and why. State the specific contribution, actual constraint and any part that can still be delegated appropriately. Receive that separate handover rather than assuming it happened. If only you currently hold the required authority, retain the decision while obtaining suitable assistance. Do not use setting the standard as a reason to keep every recurring check indefinitely.
- Review what changed before the next occasion. Check whether the original constraint remains and whether a suitable received arrangement is now possible. Establish competence, authority, references and review requirements before transferring work. A witnessed demonstration or several successful routines does not automatically grant permission for a technical inspection. Keep necessary support and exceptions visible instead of judging delegation only by minutes removed from your calendar.
Common mistakes
- Comparing only your doing time with someone else's explanation time.
- Treating four prompts as the only legitimate reasons to keep work.
- Keeping the entire task when only one contribution needs you.
- Assuming a demonstration grants inspection competence or authority.
Checklist
A reason to keep work identifies
- The specific contribution and actual required role.
- Feasible capacity, competence and complete handover effort.
- The present reason for your involvement.
- Any separate task properly received by another person.
- A later review before changing responsibilities.
Check your understanding
You led the first glazing coordination walk. Does that mean the assistant can perform the next technical inspection after seeing your example?
