DELEGATION
What should you hand off first?
Hand off the work that repeats weekly and already has a right answer. Start with what happens most often, not what you dislike most.
The short answer. Hand off the work that repeats, has a right answer, and does not need you specifically. Do not start with whatever you dislike most. Start with whatever happens most often.
The test
For each recurring task ask three questions. Does this repeat at least weekly? Is there a right answer somebody else could learn? Would a customer notice if it were done by someone other than me? Anything that answers yes, yes, no is ready to leave your desk today.
What usually goes first
- Inbox triage, so only decisions reach you
- Calendar management and meeting preparation
- Lead follow up, which is almost always the most expensive thing being dropped
- CRM updates and pipeline hygiene
- Invoicing, chasing and reconciliation
- Appointment reminders and rescheduling
What should not go first
Anything where you are the product. Pricing conversations, difficult client calls, the creative judgement people hired you for. Those stay, and the point of handing off everything else is that you finally have room to do them properly.
Why owners get this backwards
The instinct is to delegate the most annoying task. The annoying task is often rare, so handing it over buys back very little. The boring one that happens forty times a week is where the hours actually are. A broker who reclaimed twelve hours a week did it by handing over follow up and scheduling, not by handing over the thing they hated.
The success stories show what each client handed over first.
Loxif maps your workflows, trains a dedicated assistant on your own tools, and supervises the work. The first call is a free thirty minute session that ends with a delegation map you keep.
Book the free sessionCommon questions
What should a business owner delegate first?
Start with work that repeats at least weekly, has a right answer somebody else can learn, and does not require you personally. Inbox triage, calendar management, lead follow up and CRM updates are the usual first candidates.
What should a business owner never delegate?
Anything where you are the product. Pricing conversations, difficult client relationships and the creative or professional judgement clients hired you for should stay with you.
How do I know a task is ready to hand over?
If it repeats weekly, has a documented right answer, and a customer would not notice who performed it, it is ready.