Delegating a decision, not a task.

Google’s own study of its best-rated managers put letting the team get on with it, without micromanaging, second on the list. Most managers agree, and most delegate tasks: do this, by Friday, like this. The person learns nothing except that you will check. Delegating a decision is different, and it is the fastest way to find out who is ready for more.

One decision a week

1. Pick a decision you would normally make yourself: which supplier, which order to do things in, how to handle a customer, what to drop when something new comes in.
2. Give it to the person closest to it. Say the criteria that matter and the deadline. Do not say the answer, even when you know it.
3. When they ask what you would do, ask what they would do. Then back their call unless it is unsafe. Backing a decision you would not have made is the point.

Agree the result and the check-points, then stay away

For one piece of work per person each month: agree what done looks like and two dates when you will look. Between those dates, do not ask how it is going. If you are tempted, write the question down instead and bring it to the check-point. At the check-point, ask what they need, not what they have done. Trust is shown by where you choose not to look.

Say yes to one experiment a month

When someone suggests a different way of doing something, say yes for a fortnight. Agree how you will both know whether it worked. At the end, decide together: keep, adjust or drop, and thank them either way. The Engage item is “I am free to experiment with new ways of doing my job”. Permission is the whole mechanism.

Once a quarter, ask where they would like more say

Then give them some of it, visibly, and tell the team you have. Responsibility people asked for is responsibility they carry.

Write it down

Which decisions you handed over, to whom, how they went. By month six the record tells you who is ready for the next step, and you will have the evidence to say so.