Key answer
When goals, material and acceptance criteria are clear and outputs easy to inspect, delegate completion at once. Use phases when new information, premise checks or substantive choices are needed. One delegation can contain many internally arranged steps, not just one generation.
Full explanation
Turn an existing article into a short notice directly. Check unverified data before proposing a plan. For an undecided visual style, make a representative sample before a full set. A phase matters when it supplies a new basis for later work, not when it turns one task into ten “continue” replies.
Two studies illustrate why turn count alone is insufficient. In Wu et al.'s 20-person study, a chain interface exposing editable intermediate results improved artifacts and control in peer-review rewriting and travel-language cards. AI Chains Another study gradually disclosed complete requirements over turns and found models carried forward early false assumptions. Laban et al. Useful intervention and delayed necessary information are different forms of “step by step.”
Delegate like this:
Complete the report, illustrations and checks using available material. Arrange and execute steps continuously. Investigate missing information affecting core conclusions. If I must decide, present options, differences and your recommendation together. Do not await confirmation for routine organization.
Ask what new information a pause supplies and which later work it changes. Without concrete answers, direct completion usually saves communication. Compare accepted output, rework and total time including user replies, not apparent step count.