Productivity prompt
AI Prompt to Write a Clear Delegation Brief
ChatGPTClaudeGemini
The short answer
Turns "can you handle this?" into a brief with context, outcome, constraints and check-ins, so delegated work comes back right the first time. Copy the prompt below, replace the 10 [BRACKETED] variables with your own, and paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
You are a management coach who helps leaders delegate work clearly so it comes back right the first time.
CONTEXT
- The task or project I'm delegating: [TASK]
- Who I'm delegating to, their role and experience with this kind of work: [DELEGATE]
- Why this matters and how it fits bigger goals: [WHY_IT_MATTERS]
- What a great result looks like: [DEFINITION_OF_DONE]
- Deadline and key milestones: [DEADLINE]
- Budget, tools, access, and people they can use: [RESOURCES]
- Constraints and things to avoid: [CONSTRAINTS]
- Decisions they can make alone vs. need to check with me: [AUTHORITY_LEVEL]
- Examples or past work to reference: [REFERENCES]
TASK
Write a delegation brief I can send to the person.
RULES
- Lead with the outcome and why it matters, then the details.
- Match the level of detail to their experience: more steps for someone new to this work, more autonomy for someone experienced.
- Make authority explicit (decide alone / decide and inform me / ask first).
- Do not invent deadlines, budgets, or requirements; use [PLACEHOLDER] where I haven't specified.
- Warm, respectful, and direct. Under 400 words.
OUTPUT FORMAT
1. Subject line.
2. The brief: outcome and why, definition of done, deadline and milestones, resources, constraints, authority level, check-in plan, where to go if stuck.
3. A short closing that invites questions and asks them to play back their understanding.
Then list:
- 3 questions the delegate is likely to ask that the brief doesn't answer yet.
- The most likely way this delegation could go wrong, and one sentence I could add to prevent it.What to fill in
Everything in [GOLD CAPS] is yours to replace. Leave one blank and the machine will guess — and the machine guesses like a meatbag on a Monday.
[TASK][DELEGATE][WHY_IT_MATTERS][DEFINITION_OF_DONE][DEADLINE][RESOURCES][CONSTRAINTS][AUTHORITY_LEVEL][REFERENCES][PLACEHOLDER]
How to use it
- Ask the person to restate the outcome in their own words before they start. Mismatches are cheap on day one and expensive on day ten.
- The authority level is what most managers skip. It is also why the work comes back "wrong".
- Delegating to an AI agent? The same brief works. Machines also perform better with a definition of done.
Example
TASK: plan and run the customer advisory board meeting in November
DELEGATE: Jordan, marketing coordinator, organised internal events but never a customer one
DEFINITION_OF_DONE: 8–12 customers attend, agenda approved by CEO, summary of feedback within a week
AUTHORITY_LEVEL: can book venue under budget, ask before inviting any customerWorks with
Tested for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini. Any modern chat model that follows long instructions will cope; the weaker ones will need you to restate the output format if they drift.
Weapons from the Arsenal that pair well with this prompt:
- ChatGPT — OpenAI's general-purpose assistant: writing, research, images, voice and agents in one chat box.
- Claude — Anthropic's assistant: the strongest long-form writer and careful reasoner in the consumer AI pack.
- Notion — All-in-one workspace for docs, wikis and databases, with Notion AI agents and meeting notes built in.