Thread by @MatznerJon

Everybody says "Delegate More So You Can Work ON the business, not IN the business".

Easy to say, hard to do.

I have one tool that I've used 500 times, that empowers subordinates, and allows me to delegate complex projects.

PS: The tool was battle tested by the USMC...

Welcome to the "Five Paragraph Order" also called a SMEAC (Situation, Mission, Execution, Admin, Command/Control)

I am only a novice practitioner, but this simple structure, slightly modified for the civilian world, is a leadership and delegation super power.

I've used this for projects big and small - and you can too. Follow along, and I hope you'll see the power of this tool! For nerds like me, you can read this stuff straight from the source -

usmcofficer.com/officer-candid…

Step by Step:

Situation/Background: Higher level background goes here.

Example:

"Jon's hot dog stand is committed to the best hot dogs at an affordable price. To maintain this process, Jon's hot dog stand must continually adapt to the competitive environment in downtown NYC"

Mission/Goal: What are you setting out to accomplish? A good format is "We will (action steps) in order to (desired end state). The "in order to" section is really important, bc if facts change your subordinates can react!

Example:

"We will call 10 vendors in Queens in order to identify the highest quality hot dogs at a lower price than our current vendor"

Execution: Lay out your step by step plan to accomplish the mission/goal. Assign personnel if required.

Lay out from start to finish exactly what it is going to take to get the job done.

Example:

1. Steve will research local vendors, and notify Bobby with their contact details
2. Bobby will call, then text each vendor
3. Bobby will get their current price list

4. Bobby will report to Steve once 5 quotes have been collected

Admin/Logistics:

Any materials, licenses, certifications needed to get the goal accomplished? Any purchasing? Anything else "Back end" that needs to be defined? This is the place for it.

Example:

1. Bobby will drive his personal car to each vendor's location, and report the expenses in his monthly mileage report.
2. Bobby will upload his research into XYZ dropbox folder

Communication:
Where and how will your team communicate?

At what point do you need to be notified?
What happens if something goes wrong? What if its over budget? This is the place to setup your communication system for the project.

Example:
- Bobby will work with Steve via the #vendor channel in slack

- Jon will be notified if price quotes are above 150% of current vendors
- Final research will be emailed to XYZ address
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That's it - that's the format! It can be 5 lines long, or in some cases, pages upon pages.

This simple tool is incredibly powerful when you get the hang of it!

If you want a copy of a five paragraph memo I just wrote for launching our new "KPIs" (it's a good example) , throw me a retweet and a DM and I'll shoot it over.