Build Ownership
In my last note, we identified a responsibility that could be delegated.
If you've ever tried that before, you know what happens. A few questions come back. It gets done incorrectly. It doesn't meet your standards. Before long, the responsibility is back on your plate.
The problem usually isn't the person. It's that you transferred the responsibility, but not the structure around it.
In my management consulting work, I use a simple framework to build ownership around recurring responsibilities. Before handing off a recurring task, make sure these four pieces are in place:
Owner
Who is responsible for making sure this gets done? (That doesn't mean they have to do every step themselves.)
Outcome
What does a successful result look like? Share examples, explain your expectations, or define what "done well" means.
Rhythm
How often should this happen? Daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, or as needed?
Review
Set aside time to review the responsibility together. Discuss what's working, what's unclear, and what could be improved so the next time requires even less support.
Many responsibilities don't come back because someone wasn't capable. They come back because one of those four pieces was missing.
Try this:
Go back to the responsibility you chose to delegate in the last note. Before moving another step of it to someone else, write these four things:.
Who owns it?
What does success look like?
What rhythm should it follow?
When will you review it together?
You might not need a long SOP. Just enough clarity to build ownership.