---
name: write-a-delegation-brief
category: write
description: Delegate a bounded outcome with context, authority, guardrails, evidence, and review points. Use when transferring meaningful work without prescribing every step.
---

# write-a-delegation-brief

Delegate the result and decision space together. The recipient needs enough authority and context to own the work.

## Procedure

1. Define the outcome, user or stakeholder, reason, deadline, and evidence that will prove success.
2. State what is in scope, out of scope, already decided, and still open to judgment.
3. Provide relevant context, artifacts, dependencies, risks, prior attempts, and affected people.
4. Specify budget, access, privacy, safety, legal, quality, and communication guardrails.
5. Clarify which decisions the recipient owns, must consult on, or must escalate.
6. Agree on resources, support, checkpoints, reporting signals, and a route for changing scope.
7. Ask the recipient to restate the outcome, authority, first steps, and uncertainties.
8. Record acceptance and remove conflicting work or authority barriers.
9. Review evidence at checkpoints without taking control of the method back.

## Failure plan

- Do not delegate accountability while withholding authority, information, time, or resources.
- Never use delegation to offload unsafe, unethical, or unauthorized work.
- If the recipient raises a capacity or competence gap, resolve it rather than treating the concern as refusal.
- Avoid constant approval requirements that make ownership fictional.

## Done

- Outcome, scope, authority, guardrails, evidence, resources, and checkpoints are recorded
- The recipient confirms understanding and acceptance
- First actions and any unresolved dependency have owners and dates