Delegation
The Delegation Field Manual
20 Handoffs at Work, Coloring Plates, and Tools for Managers Who Do Too Much Themselves
Hand over an outcome, the authority to deliver it, and a clear route for exceptions.
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Try a sample situationWho this is for
Managers who do too much themselves.
Managers keep the work because handing it off feels slower and riskier.
The current manuscript includes 20 practice situations, reflective coloring plates, worked debriefs, and 16 practical tools.
The practice inside
01Why the Work Comes Back
Most handoffs fail in the first conversation, long before anyone does anything wrong. This section shows where they break.
02Pick It, Package It, Hand It Over
Handing off well is design work. This section helps you choose what to give away and say it clearly enough that it sticks.
03Owners and Escape Hatches
Ownership needs more than a name. People also need to know when to come get you, and what to bring when they do.
04Keep It Working
Handoffs drift. This section covers risk checks, calm check-ins, backing your people, and learning from what happened.
A situation from the manuscript
Faster if I do it
The weekly report takes you forty minutes. Teaching Dev means twenty minutes today and a few weeks of fixing his drafts, and he might get it wrong. It is 4 p.m. and the report is due at noon tomorrow.
What do you do?
- Write it yourself again and teach Dev next month, maybe.
- Toss it to Dev tonight with a note that says good luck.
- Sit with Dev for twenty minutes now, then let him write the first draft.
Make your call, then read the field note
Doing it yourself costs you a little every week, forever. Teaching costs you once. Spend the twenty minutes and buy the Fridays back.
Writing it again feels safe, but you pay the forty minutes every week and Dev never learns. "Next month, maybe" rarely arrives.
Handing it over the night before it is due, with no teaching, sets Dev up to miss noon. You end up rewriting it, and you learn the wrong lesson.
Twenty minutes now lets Dev write the first draft while you review it. You pay once, and the Fridays come back.
Try this next: Pick one task you repeat weekly and book twenty minutes to teach it.
Practice with fictional details. This excerpt offers general education, not legal, financial, or clinical advice. Use approved workplace processes and qualified support for real cases.
Tools you can return to
- Your 30-day handoff plan
- Decision inventory
- The authority card
- Hand it off or keep it?
- The announcement checklist
- Handoffs in flight
- Coach the miss without taking the work back
- Delegation bingo
- The risk check before you hand off
- Escalation log
- Twelve weeks of better handoffs
- Who decides when I am out
- Weekly handoff review
- The delegation self-check
- Your quarterly handoff review
- Handoff look-back
Put the practice to work
Use one situation for individual reflection or a manager discussion. Compare your first response with the field note, then choose one change to try in the following week.
Read: Delegation needs an outcome, authority, and a check-in →Discuss a team learning session →A book supports practice. For an active workplace issue, follow your organization’s process and seek appropriate professional guidance.
Keep exploring
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