Delegation Prompt Templates

Delegation brief for Jamie:

Task: Q2 Marketing Report
Deadline: Friday 5pm

What success looks like:
- Accurate data from our analytics dashboard and ad platforms
- Clear narrative on what worked, what didn't, and why
- 3-5 recommendations for Q3 based on Q2 learnings
- Presentation-ready format (use last quarter's template)

Your authority:
- Full ownership of data gathering and analysis
- Choose which metrics to highlight based on what's interesting
- Decide on visual format and charts
- Check with me before: any recommendations that need budget approval, anything that reflects poorly on another team

Resources:
- Last quarter's report (linked) for format reference
- Dashboard access (confirm you have it)
- 30 minutes with me Thursday if you want to talk through the narrative before finalizing

Check-ins:
- Tuesday: Quick Slack message confirming data is pulled and no surprises
- Thursday: Optional working session if you want feedback on draft
- Friday noon: Final draft to me for quick review before submission

Questions before you start?

Delegation level: Give options and let them choose, with your review before sending.

Why: They have CS experience so they understand customer communication. But they're new to your policies and this is high-risk. Full autonomy is too much, but prescribing the exact response doesn't build their judgment.

How to set it up:
1. Give context: 'This is an enterprise customer, they pay $X/year, and they've been frustrated before. The billing error was our fault.'
2. Share the options: 'Typical responses range from apologize + fix, to apologize + fix + one-month credit, to apologize + fix + call from their account manager. For an enterprise customer with a clear error on our side, I'd lean toward the credit.'
3. Let them draft: 'Write the response you think is right, then send it to me before hitting send.'
4. Review quickly: Give feedback on their draft. If it's good, tell them why. If it needs changes, explain your reasoning so they learn.
5. Plan for next time: 'Once you've done 3-4 of these, you'll have full authority to respond directly.'

This builds their skills while protecting the customer relationship.

Why this happens:
- They might not feel authorized to make decisions
- They might be risk-averse and want cover if it goes wrong
- They might be used to managers who want to approve everything
- You might have second-guessed their decisions before, intentionally or not

Response for next time:
'Thanks for the research. You know this codebase better than I do, which option do you recommend and why?'

Then: Accept their recommendation unless there's a clear problem. If you override them, explain your reasoning so they learn your decision-making framework.

If they push back: 'I trust your judgment here. Make the call. If it doesn't work, we'll learn and adjust. That's not a failure.'

Preventing this in future delegations:
1. Clarify decision authority upfront: 'You own this decision. I don't need to approve it.'
2. Ask for recommendations, not options: 'Come back with your recommendation, not a list for me to choose from.'
3. Celebrate autonomous decisions, even imperfect ones: 'Good call on X. I might have done Y differently, but your approach works.'
4. Examine your own behavior: Have you criticized decisions after the fact? That trains people to check with you first.

Readiness check:

1. Can you explain success? Partially. You know what the client values (responsiveness, strategic input) but you might not have documented the relationship nuances. Before delegating: Write down the key contacts, their priorities, sensitive topics, and communication preferences. A warm handoff isn't enough for your biggest client.

2. Do they have the skills? Likely yes if they're senior AM. But do they have the specific context? Six months is enough to know your company, but not to know this client's history. Invest time in knowledge transfer.

3. Authority and resources? Check: Can they approve discounts? Escalate issues to engineering? Access the right communication channels? If they have to come to you for every decision, you haven't really delegated.

4. Right reasons? Honest question: Are you delegating because they'll do it well, or because you want to be done with it? If the client is difficult and you're burned out, that's okay to admit. But make sure you're setting them up for success, not handing them a problem.

Recommendation: This is delegatable, but needs a transition period. Suggest: Joint calls for 4-6 weeks, then gradual handoff with you as backup. Don't just throw them in.