Delegate the Decision, Not Just the Task

Delegation often stalls when someone owns the work but not the choices needed to move it forward.

Try agreeing on three things before handing off a task:

• Decide: what the person can choose independently.
• Check in: what needs a quick conversation first.
• Return: what falls outside the agreed scope and should come back to the owner.

Add one review point to see whether those boundaries were clear. This gives someone room to contribute without making them guess—or quietly inherit unlimited responsibility. A shared goal works better when each person knows both what they own and where their authority ends.