How to write a brief someone can actually follow

When delegation goes wrong, the diagnosis is usually about the person. It is almost always about the brief.

The work was described the way it exists in your head — as a goal, with a decade of context silently attached. What arrived back was a reasonable attempt at the words you actually said.

A brief is not a manual. One page, twenty minutes, and it works for everyone who ever touches that task.

The six things a brief needs

1. What triggers it

Not just the task — when it starts. “Every Monday at 9am.” “Whenever a form is submitted.” “When an invoice passes thirty days.” Without this, the task depends on someone remembering, which means it depends on you.

2. What “done” looks like

The most-skipped line and the most important. Not “manage the inbox” — “inbox at zero, anything needing you flagged in the Action folder, routine replies sent.”

If you cannot describe done, the task is not ready to hand over yet.

3. The steps, in order

Numbered. Written for someone who has never seen your systems. Include where things live and what they are called — half of all early questions are “where do I find…”.

4. What to do when it is unclear

The single biggest source of friction, and it is almost never stated. Decide explicitly: try twice then ask, or ask immediately. Either is fine. Not saying is what causes either paralysis or unwelcome improvisation.

5. What must never happen

Your hard limits. Never issue a refund over a certain amount without approval. Never post without sign-off. Never change a price. Short list, absolutely explicit — these are the things that are expensive to discover the wrong way.

6. An example of it done properly

Worth more than the rest combined. One real example — a sent email, a completed spreadsheet, a published post — communicates tone, format and standard faster than any description.

A worked example

Instead of: “Handle the enquiries inbox.”

Write:

• Trigger: Twice daily, 9am and 2pm.
• Done: Every enquiry replied to or flagged; nothing older than four hours unactioned.
• Steps: 1. Open shared inbox. 2. Pricing questions → reply using the Pricing template. 3. Existing customers → check the CRM first, then reply. 4. Anything about a complaint or refund → flag to me, do not reply. 5. Log every enquiry in the tracker.
• If unclear: Check the FAQ document first. Still unclear after five minutes — ask me, do not guess.
• Never: Quote a price not on the price list. Promise a delivery date. Reply to a complaint.
• Example: See the “Good reply” folder.

That took a few minutes and it removes most of the first fortnight’s back-and-forth.

Two habits that keep it working

Let the person maintain it. When they hit something the brief does not cover, they add it. The document improves through use instead of decaying, and it becomes the handover for the next person automatically.

Expect a lot of questions in week one. That is the brief being stress-tested. Someone asking careful questions early is a much better sign than someone who asks none and quietly guesses.

If you would like a hand turning your recurring work into briefs, that is where we usually start.