Delegate responsibilities and track ownership

Ownership is where you hand someone a whole outcome — a function, a goal, a standing responsibility — rather than a task list. Every delegation names one owner and carries four elements: the outcome, a standard (what good looks like), constraints (the walls to decide within) and a check-in rhythm. Open Ownership in the sidebar to see two tabs: Delegated to me and Delegated by me. A short "What is Ownership?" explainer appears on your first visit.

There are no tasks and no percent-complete here, on purpose. Progress surfaces only through the owner's reflective check-in, and the system does the chasing — reminder emails go out when a check-in is due, and every nudge is logged on the responsibility. Ownership that holds is coached, not policed.

Delegate a responsibility

1. Open Ownership and press Delegate something.
2. Work through the six steps. Name one person under Who owns this? (add a backup via + Name a deputy (optional)), then answer What is the responsibility? and What is it here to produce?.
3. Set the rhythm: Check-in cadence, First check-in due and Check-in format. From here you can press Delegate with just these, or carry on to add What does good look like?, What are the constraints?, the risk and readiness posture, and an optional "Still needed?" review cadence.
4. Check the brief on the final step and press Delegate it.

You'll see a confirmation naming the new owner, and the system will email them each time a check-in falls due.

Log a check-in

The owner, their deputy, or the manager who delegated it can log one.

1. Open the responsibility and press Log a check-in.
2. Give your read on Are you on track to the outcome? (a 1–5 scale), then answer What's moved since last time?, What is most at risk? and Anything you need a decision on?. Tick I need to escalate something if it can't wait.
3. Press Log check-in.

You'll see "Check-in logged. Thanks for keeping it visible." — the entry joins the check-in history and updates the responsibility's status band.

Answer a drift reflection

If a check-in lapses well past its cadence, the owner gets an email linking to a one-screen reflection.

1. Follow the link and answer What happened, and what's next? — one or two lines is plenty.
2. Press Save reflection, or choose Log a full check-in instead.

The note lands on the responsibility, and the cadence starts a clean cycle.

Sub-delegate a part

An owner can carve out one part of their responsibility for someone who reports to them.

1. Open the responsibility and press Sub-delegate a part in the Sub-delegations section.
2. Complete the same six steps — the part gets its own owner, outcome and check-in rhythm — and press Sub-delegate it.

The new responsibility appears under Sub-delegations, linked back to its parent so the accountability chain stays visible.

Run a "Still needed?" review

If you set a review cadence, the system prompts you to ask whether the responsibility still deserves an owner.

1. Open the responsibility, expand Manage ownership (reassign, deputy, review, retire) and choose "Still needed?" review.
2. Answer Is this still worth an owner? — Yes — keep it active, Pause it for now or No — retire it — and press Record review.

Retired responsibilities leave the active map; a healthy map is a pruned one, and retiring is a good call, not a failure. Keeping or pausing rolls the next review forward on your cadence.

Who can do this

Ownership is a Team-plan feature. Anyone in your organisation can see what's been delegated to them and log check-ins on responsibilities they own, deputise for, or delegated to someone else. Delegating and sub-delegating need the manage-delegations permission — admins, managers and contributors have it by default. Reassigning, reviewing and retiring are for the delegating manager, the owner, or an admin or manager who can see every delegation.