Five factors decide whether a delegation works. The risk in the task: what happens if it comes back at 70 percent. The person's skill for this kind of work. Their hours this week, not in general. How clearly you can describe the result. And how you will check the finished work. Most failed delegations ignored the third factor: the right person with no time.
The five factors
1. Risk. If this came back at 70 percent of your standard, what breaks? Nothing: delegate. The client relationship: keep it or add a strong review.
2. Skill. Can the person do this kind of work at 70 percent today? If not, it is a training task, which is fine as long as you know that.
3. Hours. This week. A ten-hour task handed to someone with three free hours will be late, and it will look like a skill problem when it is a math problem.
4. Clarity. Can you write the result in three lines? If you cannot describe it, you cannot delegate it yet.
5. The check. How will you know it is right? Done checks written before the work, and a moment to compare the result with them.
The one most managers skip
Hours. People say yes to tasks because saying no is awkward, and the manager hears the yes as capacity. Ask the question directly: "What else is on your plate this week, and what moves if you take this?"
Where M-Tracker fits
Factors three, four and five are where M-Tracker helps. The capacity view shows tentative hours by person this week and next, and a team lead gets a weekly note when someone is overbooked. The brief holds the result and the must-haves, which is factor four written down. When the work is sent, M-Tracker compares it with the brief and writes a plain review the person sees first, which is factor five done the moment the work is ready.
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Questions people ask
Which factor matters most for a new team member?
Clarity. A new person cannot fill gaps in the brief from experience.
Should I delegate high-risk tasks at all?
Yes, with a fuller brief and a review before anything reaches the client.
What if nobody has hours?
Then delegation is not the problem. The workload is.
Work you can trust, without redoing it.
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