When you have always done your own admin, handing it over feels like risk. You know how the system works because you built the system. The new admin will do it differently, and 'differently' looks like 'wrongly' for the first few weeks. Most founders snap back to doing it themselves, and the delegation never sticks.
Document before you delegate
Pick three admin tasks you are about to hand over. Write each one as a short procedure: when does this happen, what triggers it, what are the steps, what does done look like. Five minutes per task. The act of writing the procedure surfaces shortcuts you take that the new admin will not know to take.
Hand over outcomes, not steps
After the procedure exists, hand over the outcome the task produces, not the script for it. 'I need every new referral checked-in within 24 hours' is an outcome. 'Open Carelyt, click Waitlist, look for new entries...' is a script that will become obsolete the next time the tool changes. Outcomes survive; scripts decay.
Set the check-in cadence
- Week 1: short daily check-in. Not micromanagement — confirmation that they are unblocked.
- Weeks 2–4: weekly check-in. Surface anything that came up; adjust the procedure.
- Month 2 onwards: monthly review. By now the rhythm is theirs.
Resist the rescue impulse
When the admin makes a small mistake in week two, the founder who jumps in and fixes it themselves teaches the admin that the founder is the safety net. The mistake never gets owned by the person doing the work. Let small mistakes happen and be fixed by the admin, with you available for advice. The discomfort buys you the delegation.
Watch what fills the time you got back
If the admin you delegated comes back to you after three months because 'nothing else is filling the time properly', the delegation was not a delegation — it was a recess. Decide explicitly what fills the freed-up hours. Otherwise, founders default to picking up the admin again because it is reflex.