One way to delegate something to another associate with a sense of urgency that will keep them on their toes is to get a clear picture of what the given task will entail and the steps to get to the end result. Then, send that request in a series of hurried one line emails such as "check the schedule" and then, a moment later, "draft an email summary once you've checked the schedule" and then “note that the client doesn’t like wordiness” and so on. If you have trouble remembering this strategy, just remember it's like having a live conversation with someone while vomiting.