Delegated does not mean done

Delegation is not the end of ownership. It is the transfer of execution, not the disappearance of accountability.

That matters more as the portfolio grows. When I am closer to the frontline, I can often rely on proximity and instinct. As I move from a handful of teams to six or seven, that becomes a bad operating model. Work can leave my hands without actually moving, and if I treat hand-off as closure I will only spot the problem when the week is already gone.

The point

Delegated does not mean done.
It means the work has been transferred, but still needs a control point.

The management task is not just assigning work. It is keeping enough visibility after hand-off to know whether the work is:

What I want to do differently

A delegated item should stay visible until one of three things is true:

  1. it is complete
  2. it has been explicitly re-prioritised
  3. it has been explicitly deferred

Anything else is wishful thinking dressed up as trust.

Practical implications

1. Treat hand-offs as live work

If I have asked for something and it matters this week, it is still active from my point of view.

2. Make "waiting on" visible

"Waiting on" is not a parking bay. It is a signal that follow-through is still needed.

3. Force an earlier check

In a short week, I need to know by Wednesday what is unlikely to land, not discover it on Thursday when the deadline has already rotted.

Why this matters

The risk is not only missed output. It is false signals.

If delegated work becomes invisible, then dependent work can look like inactivity, underperformance, or lack of grip when the real issue is weak follow-through after hand-off.