Delegation Diary: The J-Curve Of Work Dinners
When I first asked my Athena executive assistant, Nikko, to help plan work dinners, it felt like more trouble than it was worth.
I had to explain everything:
→ Guest list criteria
→ Venue preferences
→ Ambience
→ Budget details
→ Email drafts
→ Timing of calendar invites
→ Name cards
→ Setup requirements
→ Post-dinner follow-ups
The whole nine yards.
But something interesting happened. What started as a time-intensive delegation transformed into a now highly efficient process.
First, we broke down the dinner planning tasks into three categories:
- Fixed Tasks: Things we could template and replicate (email drafts, calendar scheduling, name cards, setup protocols). Once we documented these, they became automatic.
- Context Tasks: Elements that change with each dinner but follow clear rules (guest lists pulled from our location-specific CRM tables, budgets based on venue type, agenda topics).
- Taste-Driven Tasks: The subjective elements that needed my direct input initially (venue selection, ambiance, menu choices). These were our biggest challenge upfront since preferences inherently take time and experience to develop instincts for. You can't just write down rules for good ambiance or the perfect venue, for example.
Through consistently sharing photos and feedback after each dinner, Nikko gradually built an understanding of my preferences. Here I am giving him some quick feedback:
We noted what worked and what didn't to create a learning system from each event.
What started as my direct input on every aesthetic decision evolved into Nikko knowing exactly what I'm looking for.
Nikko handles everything from guest curation to venue selection, only flagging the few decisions that need my review.
Effective delegation often follows a J-curve.
There's an initial investment of time and effort as your assistant learns your preferences and builds systems. But once you push through that phase, the returns start to hockey-stick.
The beauty of this J-curve in action is that what once took weeks to perfect with work dinners now serves as a template for other complex delegations.
Each time Nikko and I tackle a new multi-layered task, we apply the general framework, which we have nicknamed FCC for short:
By structuring the workflows, it increases his speed and quality of execution.
- Stephen S.