Delegation examples: how to hand over a task clearly

To delegate a task, agree on the result, owner, deadline, decision-making authority and review point. Then check that the person understands the request and can access the materials. The three examples below show what such a handover could look like.

All three situations are fictional teaching examples. Adapt the agreements and review criteria to your team and task.

The Center for Creative Leadership emphasises that delegation includes authority and appropriate support, together with clarity about the expected result and its assessment. Read CCL’s delegation guidance. The situations below are our application of that general idea to small work assignments.

Example 1 — prepare a report for a meeting

Situation: a manager needs an overview of customer enquiries. “Pull together the statistics” leaves the period, data source and purpose unclear.

Agreement: an analyst prepares a table for an agreed month and a short explanation of the three most frequent reasons for contact. The manager provides an authorised dataset and a sample structure. The analyst chooses a grouping method but checks before changing a category’s definition.

Review: they examine a small sample first to identify differences in interpretation. For acceptance, they check the reporting period, totals and whether the findings follow from the data. Unknown values are identified separately. Uploading a file does not itself complete the agreed review.

Example 2 — organise an internal session

Situation: a team wants to share experience. The organiser can gather topics but does not know who chooses the time or invites participants.

Agreement: the coordinator proposes two times, collects topics and drafts the invitation. The session lead approves the final slot and participants. The assignment records who sends the invitation, where the agenda lives and when questions must be submitted.

Review: before sending the invitation, they check the time, joining link and order of speakers. If the lead has not confirmed the slot, the coordinator raises that issue at the agreed point. Silence is not treated as approval.

Example 3 — update a help page

Situation: a colleague is asked to update frequently asked questions. They can edit explanations but cannot change product terms or publish the page.

Agreement: the colleague prepares a draft from approved sources, flags uncertain points and passes it to the section owner. They may change the structure of the explanation; unverified terms need review. A designated participant publishes the page after approval.

Review: the owner checks facts and links, then examines the published page. “Draft ready”, “reviewed” and “published” are separate states. Use a simple digital workflow to keep the materials and stages visible.

A short task handover template

Shorten this template for a simple task. For a complex assignment, first distinguish the overall project from a specific task. “You own the entire launch” leaves dependencies between people unexplained.

When delegated work comes back to you

Find out why: an unclear result, missing access, changed priorities or a skill that needs practice. Depending on the answer, revise the agreement, provide material or work through one section together. A focused mentoring conversation can provide a format for exploring a new approach.

If an intermediate review identifies changes, use the feedback action template to record the specific material, correction, deadline and criterion for checking it again.

When the work is complete, compare the result with the original assignment. Record which clarification would help next time. That creates a concrete basis for improving the process.