How to Use Delegate & Elevate in Ninety

Delegate & Elevate is an EOS® tool that helps leaders identify which tasks to keep doing and which to hand off so they can spend more time on work they love and do best. The Ninety mobile app brings this exercise into a persistent, private digital system: capture your tasks, sort them into four quadrants, and assign next actions to build a clear picture of where your time goes and where it should go instead. 

Delegate & Elevate is available in the Ninety mobile app to all users on the Essentials plan or above, except Observers.

Tool Walkthrough

What is Delegate & Elevate?

Delegate & Elevate is one of the five leadership abilities introduced in Traction by Gino Wickman as essential for when a leader becomes the bottleneck holding the organization back. The central insight is straightforward: most leaders are doing work they've outgrown. Some of it they dislike and aren't good at. Some they dislike but are competent at. Some they genuinely like, but it still isn't the work they do best.

The EOS® (Entrepreneurial Operating System®) prescription is direct: identify the work you dislike and aren't good at, hand it off to someone who is the right fit for it, and elevate yourself to the activities where you are both great and energized. Wickman calls this your "highest and best use." When leaders consistently operate there, the organization grows faster, and the leader gets time back.

The Delegate & Elevate tool in Ninety turns what is often a one-time whiteboard exercise into a continuous, private practice; a place to capture your tasks, see where they cluster, and track what you're actually doing about the results.

The four quadrants

Every task you do fits into one of four quadrants based on two questions: 

1. How do I feel about doing this work? 
2. And how good am I at it?

Love / Great at it
This is your highest and best use. These are the tasks that energize you and that you perform at your best. The goal of Delegate & Elevate is to protect and grow the time you spend here. If the majority of your week lives in this quadrant, you're where you should be.

Like / Good at it
You're competent here, and the work doesn't drain you. These tasks are candidates for eventual delegation as your role matures and the people around you develop. Keep them for now, but note when someone else could own this work as well as, or better than, you.

Don't Like / Good at it
This is where most leaders get stuck the longest. You do this work well, maybe even better than anyone on your team, but it costs you energy every time. Someone else would not only be adequate in this work; they'd likely thrive in it. 

Don't Like / Not Good at it
No hesitation needed. These tasks are draining and unproductive. Delegate or eliminate them as quickly as possible.

The goal is not to empty your plate. It's to progressively shift your time toward the Love / Great at it quadrant.

Who can use this feature

Delegate & Elevate is available to the following roles on the Essentials plan or above:

• Owners.
• Admins.
• Managers.
• Managees/Team Members.
• Implementers.

Observers do not have access to Delegate & Elevate.

Your Delegate & Elevate session is private by default and visible only to you. No one else in your organization (including your manager) can see your quadrant assignments, Next Actions, or task list. However, performing the exercise with your leader can be extremely helpful.

Navigating to the Delegate & Elevate tool

To access the Delegate & Elevate tool:

1. Open and log in to Ninety's mobile app.
2. Tap People on the bottom navigation bar.
3. Tap the Delegate & Elevate tab at the top of the page.

Capturing your tasks

The first step in a Delegate & Elevate session is getting every task you're currently responsible for out of your head and into the tool, without stopping to judge or categorize them. Speed matters here. The goal is capture, not curation.

To add a task:

1. Scroll to the Uncategorized tasks section.
2. Tap the Enter task title... field.
3. Type the task and confirm.

Repeat until you've captured everything on your plate. Tasks stay in Uncategorized until you assign them to a quadrant.

You can also add tasks when viewing any of the four quadrants individually.

Renaming tasks

You can rename tasks at any time by tapping the task's title and editing the text.

Deleting tasks

From either the uncategorized task view or from a quadrant, swipe left on a task to reveal the trash can icon. Then tap the trash can icon to delete the task.

Categorizing your tasks

Once your tasks are captured, work through the Uncategorized list and assign each task to a quadrant. Each task displays four icons representing the four quadrants. Tap the one that best matches how you feel about that work.

• Heart icon → Love / Great at it.
• Thumbs up icon → Like / Good at it.
• Thumbs down icon → Don't Like / Good at it.
• Ban icon → Don't Like / Not Good at it.
   

The task moves to the corresponding quadrant card immediately. A confirmation message appears at the bottom of the screen to confirm where the task landed. If you change your mind, you can move the task back to the uncategorized list.

Assigning Next Actions

Once tasks are sorted into quadrants, the next step is deciding what to do with them. Ninety calls these decisions Next Actions.

To access a task's Next Actions, you first need to open the quadrant it lives in:

1. From the main Delegate & Elevate view, tap a quadrant card (for example, Like / Good at it).
2. In the quadrant view, tap the > chevron on the right side of any task.
3. A Next Action sheet slides up from the bottom of the screen.
4. Tap the Next Action that fits:

A task with no Next Action assigned is one you're keeping for now. There is no explicit "Keep" button. You can also tap Move to Uncategorized to return a task to the unsorted list if you want to reassign it to a different quadrant.

Marking a Next Action complete

After assigning a Next Action, a status badge appears on the task. Once you've taken the action (had the conversation, delegated the work, etc.), tap the circle on the left side of the task to mark it complete. The badge updates to reflect the completed state, Discussed, Delegated, and so on, and the circle fills with a green checkmark.

Reviewing all your Next Actions in one place

As you assign Next Actions across your quadrants, a Next Actions card appears at the top of the main Delegate & Elevate view. The card shows a count of how many actions you've identified. For example, "You've identified 2 next actions."

Tap the card to open the Next Actions view, which consolidates all tasks with Next Actions assigned, grouped by action type. Each group shows a summary of pending and completed items (for example, "1 To delegate" or “1 Discussed”), so you can see at a glance where you are on your commitments without opening each quadrant individually.

Use this view as your delegation and follow-through tracker between quarterly sessions.

How your session works

Delegate & Elevate is designed as a continuous practice, not a one-time exercise.

• Tasks roll forward automatically. Your task list, quadrant assignments, and Next Actions carry over every time you return to the tool. You pick up where you left off.
• Add and refine at any time. As your responsibilities change, add new tasks, move them between quadrants, or remove tasks that no longer apply.
• Sessions are private. Your Delegate & Elevate session is visible only to you. No one else in your organization can see your quadrant assignments or task list.

Tips for getting the most out of Delegate & Elevate

Use these tips as you begin utilizing the Delegate & Elevate discipline with Ninety's mobile tool:

• Sweep first, categorize second. List as many tasks as you can think of before you begin separating them into quadrants. Include everything, even tasks that feel obvious or too small. Patterns only become visible when the full picture is there.
• Bring your Delegate quadrant to your next 1-on-1. The tasks in Don't Like / Good at it and Don't Like / Not Good at it are the starting point for a real delegation conversation. Your manager or direct report needs to see this list for anything to change.
• Revisit quarterly. Your role changes. A task that belonged in Love / Great at it six months ago may belong in Like / Good at it now. Keep the list current so it reflects the work you're actually doing.
• Pair it with your Accountability Chart. Delegate & Elevate identifies what to hand off. The Accountability Chart® and Quarterly Conversations are where you work out who takes it on and what that transition looks like.