Check your delegation brief for gaps before you hand the task over

"Can you sort out the supplier review?" is a delegation that feels complete to the person saying it, because they know what a good review looks like, which suppliers count, and that the board wants it by the 20th.

The person hearing it knows none of that. They'll do something sensible, and it won't be what you meant.

Write the handover as you'd say it, rough, in a few lines. Then ask the AI to read it as the person receiving it.

I'm delegating a task. Below is what I'd tell the person. Read it as the
person receiving it, who wasn't in any of the earlier conversations.
List:
1. What I haven't said that they'd need to know to start: the outcome,
   who it's for, the deadline and why, what "good" looks like, what's
   out of scope, what they can decide alone, and what they should check
   with me first.
2. Words or names that only mean something if you know the background.
3. Where they could reasonably do the wrong thing.
4. Three questions they'd probably ask me, so I can answer them now.
Then rewrite my note as a short brief with those gaps marked
[TO FILL IN]. Don't invent answers.

My note: [PASTE]

The same two items are often missing: what "done" looks like, and how much they can decide alone. Once you've seen that a couple of times, you'll start writing them in without being prompted.

The rewrite is a draft. Fill in the brackets yourself, then send it in your own words. A brief that reads like it came from a template tells the person you didn't have much time for them.

Agree a check-in as well, somewhere early. It costs ten minutes and means a wrong turn gets caught before they've spent a week on it.