A leader may keep a task because completing it personally feels quicker than explaining it. That can be sensible once. Repeated across the same work, it prevents anyone else from becoming capable of owning it.
The cost appears later as a queue of decisions waiting for one person.
Delegate the judgment, not only the activity
Describe the result required and the limits within which the colleague can choose the method. Explain the tradeoffs that matter and provide access to relevant information.
Ask the new owner to work through a realistic example. This can expose different assumptions before a live exception becomes contentious.
Set a review schedule appropriate to the risk. Constant informal checking can undermine the authority that was supposedly transferred.
Distinguish a mistake from an unclear agreement
When something goes wrong, examine what the colleague understood, what information was available and which limit was crossed. Correct the relevant problem.
Taking the whole task back may be necessary in some cases, but it should be an explicit decision with a reason. Otherwise, a single error can reverse months of development.
Track whether the leader is still being asked the same routine questions. If so, the obstacle may be missing permission rather than missing skill. Delegation becomes real when a competent person can decide within known boundaries and expect the leader to respect that decision.
