delegation brief
Also called: task brief
A short written handover of a task: the outcome wanted and why, the limits (time, budget, quality), what the person may decide alone, when you will check in and what counts as done.
A delegation brief is a short written hand-over of a task, usually half a page. Six lines cover it: the outcome and why it matters; the limits (time, budget, quality, policies that can't change); the decisions the person makes alone and which ones go to someone else; the resources (hours freed up, data, people to ask); the check-ins (when you'll look together, early and short); and what "done" means, stated so both of you would agree it is finished.
Writing it down matters most in remote teams, where nobody watches over a shoulder and nobody should. A spoken "Could you handle the guide?" leaves the person to guess, and the questions that follow in the chat (how long, by when, can I change the wording?) are the brief that wasn't written. A written brief also protects the person: it records what they were allowed to decide, so a busy day doesn't quietly take the decision back.
The brief adapts to the person and the task. An expert needs fewer instructions about how, but still the same agreements about outcome, limits and check-ins. A newcomer may need the steps too. When the task goes to an AI assistant, the limits get sharper: it only drafts, a person reads and sends every output, and the brief lists what a draft must never say or promise.
Example
In February the lead of Klasna's Support team hands refund exceptions to Olha. The data supports it: over six months she solved 210 refund requests, 59.15% of the team's 355 (210 ÷ 355), and only 3.81% were reopened (8 of 210). By the team's starting rule (at least 50 solved and under 5% reopened) that is the "decide, tell me after" level.
The brief:
- Outcome: a family asking for an exception gets one consistent answer from one person, and exceptions stop waiting for the lead's sign-off.
- Limits: only inside the current refund policy; any request outside it goes to Iryna, the head of operations.
- Decisions: Olha decides every exception inside the policy alone, including the wording of the reply.
- Resources: the policy, last quarter's exception tickets, and two hours a week off the queue.
- Check-in: a short written list each Friday: the week's exceptions with a one-line reason each; a 15-minute look together after week 1.
- Done (for the first month): every exception has a recorded reason, and none came back to the lead for approval.
The lead adds one line for busy days: if Olha is off shift, the request waits for her or goes to Iryna if it can't wait; the lead does not decide it instead.
Common mistakes
- The task without the why. Without the outcome and its reason, the person can only follow instructions, not make good calls.
- Blurry decision rights. "Use your judgment" isn't a limit; write what they decide alone and what goes to whom.
- A late check-in. A 15-minute look at a draft midweek is cheap; a mistake found weeks later costs customers.
- No definition of done. If "done" isn't written, it gets argued about at the deadline.
- Over-briefing the expert, under-briefing the tool. Experts need agreements, not steps; an AI assistant needs the strictest limits of all.
Learn it in the course
- The delegation brief · Outcome, limits, decision rights, resources, check-ins and what "done" means, for a person and for an AI draft assistant; the result stays yours.