What’s your most underrated delegation trick?
Not looking for the obvious 'use a VA' or hire freelancers.
What’s one thing you do that makes delegation actually work for you as a founder?
Could be:
A way you brief people
A doc you reuse
A weird but effective Slack habit
I’m trying to improve how I hand things off without it bouncing back to me. I figure other solo/early-stage founders might have some battle tested tricks.
Replies
@dbul spoken like a leader, It’s easy to fall into the trap of micromanaging under the guise of being “helpful,” but your method respects the team’s autonomy and encourages better problem-solving.
Curious- do you ever step in mid-way if they’re veering off course, or do you let them course-correct on their own unless it’s urgent?
@dbul Framing it all as "hypotheses" makes it easier to let go and not overstep.
Appreciate this perspective.
minimalist phone: creating folders
For me, Confluence is the one place where all the relevant knowledge for our project is summarised, so you do not have to teach each person from scratch. Just send the link and read. And if someone has questions, just DM.
One thing that’s really helped me is recording quick Loom videos to explain tasks—it’s way faster than writing long briefs and people actually get the context. I also have a “How to Work With Me” doc I share with anyone new, and it saves a ton of confusion later.
Something which my early founder followed and I have been following:
1. Make a Notion doc that explains how to achieve the task
2. Make sure you write detailed steps so that they can refer it anytime
3. Write your expectations and what exactly you are looking to achieve from this.
It's a one time task which might take sometime but once done will save you lots.
I used this method to automate my linkedin post from scripting to posting, cold messaging people.
Additionally you can use Notion automation to know if people are stuck at some tasks, happy to help with this.
Lancepilot
One thing that’s helped me a ton: I always delegate with a “minimum viable outcome” defined upfront. Not the perfect version, just the bare minimum that would count as done. That gives people room to run without second-guessing, and I can always layer improvements later if needed. It’s reduced the boomerang effect a lot.
Let people find their own path; just set the direction. I intentionally set the goal a bit beyond where I actually want them to land. That way, they discover their own solutions, and even if they reach 80%, that's good enough. Focus on checking in on the process, not just the outcome.
One trick that’s worked: I write a “definition of done” for every task—clear outcomes, not steps. I drop it in a shared doc or Slack thread, so there's no ambiguity. It cuts way down on back-and-forth and makes handoffs stick.