Delegation

Most founders seeking delegation help are stuck between Level 1 and Level 2, or between Level 2 and Level 3. Identify which transition they're in.

The Delegation Audit

Step 1: The Time Dump (10 minutes)

Ask: "Walk me through a typical week. What do you actually spend your time on?"

Don't accept vague answers. Get specific:

• What recurring meetings do you have?
• What tasks do you do every day/week?
• What fires do you fight?
• What decisions does the team come to you for?
• Where do you spend time that you know you shouldn't?

List everything. Don't judge yet — just capture.

Step 2: The Four-Bucket Sort (15 minutes)

Take every item from the time dump and sort it into four buckets:

Bucket 1: Only You

Things that genuinely require the founder's judgment, relationships, or authority. These stay.

Examples: major strategic decisions, key customer relationships, fundraising, hiring senior leaders, company vision.

This bucket should be small. If more than 20-30% of their time is in here, they're probably holding onto things they've convinced themselves only they can do.

Bucket 2: Teach Someone

Things the founder does well but that someone on the team could learn. These get delegated with training.

For each item, identify:

• Who on the team could learn this?
• What would a 2-week handoff look like?
• What does "good enough" look like? (Not your standard — the minimum acceptable standard)

Bucket 3: Hire For

Things that need to be done but nobody on the current team can handle. These require a hire or contractor.

For each item:

• Is this a full-time hire or a contractor/fractional?
• What's the cost?
• What's the cost of the founder continuing to do it? (Calculate their effective hourly rate x hours spent)

Bucket 4: Eliminate

Things that don't need to be done at all. Meetings that don't produce decisions. Reports nobody reads. Processes that exist because "we've always done it that way."

Be aggressive here. Most founders are doing at least 5-10 hours/week of work that produces zero value.

Step 3: Resistance Coaching (10 minutes)

Every founder has the same objections. Surface them and work through them:

"Nobody can do it as well as me." True — at first. But 80% of your quality at 0% of your time is a better deal than 100% of your quality at 100% of your time. You need the time for Level 1 bucket work, not polishing things someone else can handle.

"It's faster if I just do it." Right now, yes. But every time you do it instead of teaching someone, you guarantee you'll have to do it again next time. Teaching takes 3x as long once but saves infinite time forever.

"I tried delegating and it didn't work." Ask: Did you delegate the task, or did you delegate the outcome? Did you give them context on WHY it matters, or just WHAT to do? Did you check in along the way, or wait until the deadline and get disappointed? Bad delegation isn't a reason to stop delegating — it's a reason to get better at it.

"My team isn't ready." Maybe. Or maybe you've never given them the chance. People grow into responsibility. If you wait until they're "ready," you'll wait forever.

Step 4: The Delegation Plan (15 minutes)

For each item in Buckets 2, 3, and 4, create a specific plan:

Bucket 2 items (Teach Someone):

Bucket 3 items (Hire For):

• Role needed
• Full-time vs. contractor
• Approximate cost
• Timeline to hire (recommend running the hiring skill for each)

Bucket 4 items (Eliminate):

• Just stop doing them. Seriously. If nobody notices in 2 weeks, it didn't matter.

Step 5: The New Calendar (5 minutes)

Based on the delegation plan, help the founder redesign their week:

"If everything in Buckets 2, 3, and 4 were off your plate, what would your week look like?"

Map out:

• How many hours freed up?
• What would they spend that time on? (Should be Bucket 1 activities)
• What's the first thing they'd do with reclaimed time?

This is the vision — the reason delegation is worth the short-term pain.

Output

# Delegation Audit — [Date]

## Current Level: [1-5] ([Name])
**Transitioning to:** Level [X] ([Name])

## Time Audit Summary
- Total hours/week working: [X]
- Bucket 1 (Only You): [X] hrs ([Y]%)
- Bucket 2 (Teach): [X] hrs ([Y]%)
- Bucket 3 (Hire): [X] hrs ([Y]%)
- Bucket 4 (Eliminate): [X] hrs ([Y]%)

## Bucket 1: Only You (Keep)
- [Task/responsibility]
- [Task/responsibility]

## Bucket 2: Teach Someone
| Task | Delegate To | Handoff Plan | "Good Enough" Standard | Target Date |
|------|-------------|-------------|----------------------|-------------|
| [Task] | [Person] | [Steps] | [Standard] | [Date] |

## Bucket 3: Hire For
| Task | Role Needed | FT/Contractor | Est. Cost | Urgency |
|------|------------|---------------|-----------|---------|
| [Task] | [Role] | [Type] | [Cost] | [High/Med/Low] |

## Bucket 4: Eliminate
- [Task] — just stop.
- [Task] — just stop.

## Hours Reclaimed: [X] hrs/week

## Redesigned Week
[What the founder's ideal week looks like post-delegation]

## Next Actions
1. [First delegation to start this week]
2. [Second]
3. [Third]

## 30-Day Check-In
Review on [date]: Are the delegations sticking? What needs adjustment?

Save to reviews/delegation-audit-[YYYY-MM-DD].md.

Rules

1. Bucket 1 should be uncomfortable small. If the founder claims 50% of their tasks are "only me," push back. Most of those are Bucket 2 items they haven't let go of yet.
2. "Good enough" is the hardest concept. Founders who built their company on high standards struggle to accept 80% quality from someone else. Help them see that 80% quality at 0% of their time beats 100% quality at 100% of their time.
3. Start with one thing. Don't try to delegate everything at once. Pick the easiest Bucket 2 item and hand it off this week. Build the muscle.
4. Delegation is not abdication. Handing something off doesn't mean never thinking about it again. It means checking outcomes periodically instead of doing the work yourself. Set review checkpoints.
5. The goal is to make yourself unnecessary for operations. The company should be able to run for 2 weeks without the founder touching anything operational. If it can't, the founder hasn't delegated enough.
6. Name the identity issue. Many founders resist delegation because doing the work IS their identity. They're "the person who handles X." Help them see that their new identity is "the person who built a team that handles X."
7. Revisit in 30 days. Delegation backslides. Founders take things back when quality dips or when they're stressed. Schedule a follow-up to check if the delegations stuck.