Leaders ADAPT teaching package

Teaching delegation: a free session plan for managers and team leads

A ready to run delegation class or workshop, free under CC BY 4.0. Participants take a four minute test, practice a timed three minute handoff, and walk out with one real task handed off as an outcome, with an authority level and a check-in date.

20, 45 or 90 minutesFree test includedTimed role playPrintable worksheetCC BY 4.0No sign up for instructors

Who this is for

Instructors of management, organizational behavior and MBA leadership courses who want a practical session rather than a lecture on why delegation matters. Corporate L&D leads running new manager or first line leader programs. Team leaders who want to run one session with their own managers. Participants without direct reports can still do every exercise: they hand off to a peer, a vendor or a project partner, and the five elements work in any direction. No preparation beyond reading this page, printing the worksheet and bringing a timer.

What participants leave with

A 70% Test list built from their own calendar, with the three tasks they will hand off first.
One real task rewritten from a task into an outcome, with all five elements in place: a name, the outcome, a deadline, the context and an authority level said out loud.
A rehearsed three minute handoff conversation, a sentence ready for when the problem tries to come back to them, and a check-in date in their calendar for the task they hand off this week.

Pre-work (optional, 10 minutes)

The 70% Test. Go through last week's calendar and write down everything you spent time on, meetings included. Next to each item, answer one question: could another person get this to roughly 70 percent of what I would produce? The bar is seventy, not perfect and not nearly perfect. Mark each item Y or N and, for every Y, write the name of someone who could take it. Anything with a Y is a candidate to hand off. Anything with an N either stays with you or becomes a development goal for someone. Do it as a ten minute task before the session, or as the opening ten minutes of the 90 minute version.

The handoff that sticks: six tools

Most handoffs fail before the work starts, because what the manager said was a hint rather than a handoff. "Could you have a look at this when you have a moment" feels polite to say. It leaves the other person guessing what was wanted, and three weeks later the manager judges them on the guess. These six tools turn a hint into a handoff. Teach them in this order.

1.The 70% Test: For any task, ask whether someone else could get it to about 70 percent of what you would deliver. If so, it is a candidate. Seventy works at both ends of the handoff: it decides what goes on the list, and afterwards it decides whether the handoff succeeded, even if the person took a route you would not have taken. Good first candidates are recurring, need little background, and do little harm if the result is a bit rough.
2.Tasks versus outcomes: A task tells someone what to do. An outcome tells them what finished looks like, and that is what lets them make the judgment calls that would otherwise come back to you. Task: "Update the customer FAQ." Outcome: "By the end of the month, a new customer can fix the five most common setup problems without opening a ticket." Hand over tasks and people keep waiting for the next instruction. Hand over outcomes and they start to own the result.
3.Five elements in every handoff: Leave one out and you have hinted, not delegated. A name: one person, never "the team". An outcome: finished described sharply enough that two people working separately would deliver much the same thing. A deadline: a day and a time, never "soon". Context: why it matters, so they can handle the decisions you did not see coming. Authority: what they can decide without you. Writing the five down takes about a minute.
4.The 3-Minute Delegation Conversation: Four timed blocks. Context, 60 seconds: what is going on and what makes it difficult. Outcome, 45 seconds: describe finished, and leave the route to them. Authority, 30 seconds: name the level as a number. Level 1: you decide, tell me afterwards. Level 2: you decide, tell me before you act on it. Level 3: bring me options and I choose. Verification, 60 seconds: ask them to say the request back in their own words, to say why they think it matters, and whether they are in. Three minutes at the start is cheaper than weeks of rework at the end.
5.The 25% check-in: Put the first check-in roughly a quarter of the way through the work: midweek on a one week job, the end of the first week on a one month job. Earlier than that is hovering. Much later and a wrong turn is expensive to fix. The check-in is about support: what is in your way, and what do you need from me. It is not a request to inspect the draft.
6.The coaching swap: Delegated work tries to come home. The person hits a snag and brings the problem back to your desk, and the fast thing is to solve it for them. Swap one sentence for another. Instead of "I will handle this for you", say "How are you going to handle this, and how can I help you think it through?" Then ask questions until they leave with their own next step. The outcome, and the authority, stay with them.

The context block of the 3-Minute Delegation Conversation uses the first half of SCQA (Situation, Complication, Question, Answer), from Barbara Minto's Pyramid Principle. The coaching swap is the move Andreas Pettersson teaches in his live coaching workshops for managers. The other tools are also Andreas Pettersson's own.

Want the whole system? The 5-Minute Leader

This page gives you enough of the delegation method to run a strong session: what to hand off, how to frame it and the timing of the first check-in. The complete, step by step version, with the scripts and the follow-through, is in The 5-Minute Leader.

The SCQA briefing in full and the SHUA/R-C check, which tests whether a handoff was really heard, understood and committed to
The red flags to listen for in a handoff conversation, with the move for each one
Cascade delegation, the RACI matrix and the Delegation Board, for leaders whose reports manage people of their own
A day by day plan for putting the method into practice over five working days
The Elite Leader Matrix bonus: match how you hand off work to how each person on your team is wired

Get the full 5-Minute Leader system

Session plans

Pick the length that fits your slot. Every version uses the same test, framework and worksheet.

20 minute version

Minutes	What happens
0 to 3	Read three phrases aloud: "I thought someone else was handling that", "I didn't realize it was urgent", "I was waiting for your approval". Hands up if you heard one this month. Each one points back to something missing from a handoff.
3 to 7	Everyone takes the free delegation test on their own device and notes which of the four areas (Selection, Definition, Authority, Follow-through) came back lowest.
7 to 12	Teach tasks versus outcomes with the FAQ example, then the five elements. Each participant fills in worksheet Part B for one real task.
12 to 18	Pairs run the 3-Minute Delegation Conversation once each, on the task from Part B. You call the four blocks out loud for the whole room: context, outcome, authority, verification.
18 to 20	Each person says the task, the person, the authority level and the check-in date. Point them to Part D for the check-in.

45 minute version

Minutes	What happens
0 to 5	Frame the problem: the work that stays with a manager because doing it feels quicker than explaining it. Read the four phrases from worksheet Part E. Hands up for each one heard this month.
5 to 10	Everyone takes the free delegation test on their own device. Ask for a show of hands on the lowest area, not the score.
10 to 18	Teach tools 1 to 3. Debrief the 70% Test pre-work, or run Part A live for three minutes if nobody did it. Then tasks versus outcomes, then the five elements.
18 to 26	Read the Dana case aloud. Small groups answer discussion questions 1 to 3.
26 to 31	Each participant fills in worksheet Part B for one task from their own 70% list.
31 to 41	Timed role play in trios: delegator, receiver, timekeeper. The timekeeper calls the four blocks from Part C and ticks what they heard. Three minutes per conversation, one minute of timekeeper feedback, then rotate once.
41 to 45	Teach the 25% check-in in one minute. Each person says out loud the task, the person, the authority level and the check-in date. Close with discussion question 7.

90 minute version

Minutes	What happens
0 to 10	Pre-work debrief in pairs: compare 70% Test lists and count the Y tasks. If nobody did the pre-work, run Part A live. Ask the room for the highest count and what was on it.
10 to 15	Everyone takes the free delegation test. Show of hands on the lowest of the four areas.
15 to 30	Teach tools 1 to 3. Then ask the room who on their team would grow most from the item they least want to let go of, and why that person is not getting it today.
30 to 45	Dana case in small groups, discussion questions 1 to 4. Each group reports its rewrite of question 3 to the room.
45 to 55	Worksheet Parts A and B for a real task. Pairs swap sheets and check all five elements are present.
55 to 75	Timed role play in trios, three rounds so everyone plays delegator, receiver and timekeeper. Teach the coaching swap first. In each round, about two minutes after the handoff, the receiver comes back with a problem ("the supplier won't answer, what should I do?"). The delegator has to use the swap instead of solving it, and the timekeeper notes whether the problem left the room with the receiver or the delegator.
75 to 83	Teach the 25% check-in and the 70 percent pass bar from tool 1. Participants fill in Part D, then tick Part E: which of these phrases have I heard, and which of my habits caused them.
83 to 90	Commitment round: task, person, authority level, check-in date, out loud. Close with discussion questions 6 and 7.

The free test participants take

Participants take the free delegation test on their own phone or laptop. It takes a few minutes. It asks for a name and email to send the full result, so tell participants that in advance. Results go only to the person who took it, so nobody has to share a score unless they choose to.

Link to give participants (paste it into your slides or learning platform):

https://www.leadersadapt.com/assessments/delegation/?utm_source=teaching-package&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=teach-delegation

The case: the operations lead who answers every question

Fictional case, written for teaching. Names, companies and numbers are invented.

Dana runs operations at a fictional 40 person distributor. She has three supervisors. Every routing exception, every customer complaint about a late truck and every overtime request comes to her, because she answers faster than anyone and has done so for six years. On a normal Tuesday she fields 31 interruptions before noon.

Her supervisors are capable, and two of them have told her they want more responsibility. When she does hand something over, it sounds like this: "Can you have a look at the overtime requests when you get a chance? Keep me posted." When a supervisor then makes a call she would have made differently, Dana reverses it the same afternoon, quietly and kindly.

Her supervisors have started saying two things. "I was waiting for your approval." And "I didn't realize it was urgent." Dana reads both as a lack of initiative.

Her manager has asked her to take on a second warehouse next quarter. Dana believes the answer is to hire a fourth supervisor.

The handout

One sheet per participant. Parts A and B are individual, Part C is used by the timekeeper in the role play, Parts D and E go back to work with them. Download the Word version

Teaching packageTeaching delegation

Leaders ADAPT | CC BY 4.0leadersadapt.com/teach-delegation/

The handoff worksheet

PART A. THE 70% TEST (from last week's calendar) Could another person get this to about 70% of what I would deliver? Task Y/N Who could 1. ____________________________________ ___ __________ 2. ____________________________________ ___ __________ 3. ____________________________________ ___ __________ 4. ____________________________________ ___ __________ 5. ____________________________________ ___ __________ 6. ____________________________________ ___ __________ Circle the three Y tasks to hand off first. Good first picks are recurring, need little background, and do little harm if the result is a bit rough. PART B. FROM TASK TO OUTCOME The task, the way I would usually say it: ______________________________________________________________ The outcome. What does finished look like, sharply enough that two people working separately would deliver much the same thing? ______________________________________________________________ Five element check. Miss one and it is a hint: [ ] Name: ________________________ [ ] Outcome: _____________________ [ ] Deadline (day and time): ____________ [ ] Context (why it matters): ____________ [ ] Authority (circle one): Level 1 You decide, tell me afterwards Level 2 You decide, tell me before you act on it Level 3 Bring me options, I choose PART C. THE 3-MINUTE DELEGATION CONVERSATION (timekeeper's card) 0:00 Context, 60 sec What is going on and what makes it difficult 1:00 Outcome, 45 sec What finished looks like, not the route 1:45 Authority, 30 sec The level, said out loud as a number 2:15 Verification, 60 sec The receiver says the request back in their own words The receiver says why it matters The receiver says yes, or says what is stopping a yes Tick what you heard: [ ] An outcome, not a list of steps [ ] The level as a number [ ] A say-back in the receiver's own words, not "yes, got it" [ ] A clear yes, or a clear reason why not 90 minute version only, the comeback: [ ] Receiver brought a problem back [ ] Delegator used the swap: "How are you going to handle this, and how can I help you think it through?" [ ] The problem left with the receiver Timekeeper feedback, one line: ________________________________ PART D. THE 25% CHECK-IN Outcome due: ____________ 25% point: ____________ (put it in the calendar now) At the check-in I ask: What is in your way? What do you need from me? I do not ask to inspect the draft. Pass bar: the outcome reached at 70% or better, even if done differently than I would. PART E. WHAT THEY SAY, AND WHAT WAS MISSING. Which have I heard this month? [ ] "I thought someone else was handling that." No name, only "we" [ ] "I wasn't sure what you wanted." An activity, no outcome [ ] "I didn't realize it was urgent." No deadline [ ] "I was waiting for your approval." No authority level MY COMMITMENT I will hand ______________________ to ______________ by ____________. Authority level ___. 25% check-in on ____________.

Teaching delegation: a session plan. Andreas Pettersson, Leaders ADAPT. Free to use under CC BY 4.0. https://www.leadersadapt.com/teach-delegation/ The full system: 5minleader.leadersadapt.com/5ml

Discussion questions

Run Dana's Tuesday through the 70% Test. Which of her 31 interruptions would pass, and which supervisor gets each one?
Dana's supervisors say "I was waiting for your approval" and "I didn't realize it was urgent". Which of Dana's words produced each one?
Rewrite "Can you have a look at the overtime requests when you get a chance? Keep me posted" as an outcome with all five elements. Which authority level fits, and why?
Whatever authority level Dana says out loud, what level does she teach when she reverses a decision the same afternoon?
Would a fourth supervisor solve the problem? What would that person learn in their first month?
Where is the 25 percent point on the task you are handing off this week, and what exactly will you ask?
Which decision will you stop reversing this month?

Facilitator notes

Use trios, not pairs, for the role play. The timekeeper learns the most because they hear the four blocks from outside. In the first round call the block changes out loud for the whole room, with a visible timer on the screen.
The most common trap is an outcome block that turns into steps. If you hear "first you'll pull the data, then...", stop the trio and ask the delegator: what does finished look like? The second trap is authority. Make delegators say the level as a number. "Level 1, but check with me first" is really Level 2, so name it.
Debrief the test without asking anyone for a score. A show of hands on the lowest of the four areas (Selection, Definition, Authority, Follow-through) tells you which tool to spend extra time on.
If nobody volunteers in the commitment round, go first with a real task of your own: the task, the person, the level and the date. One honest example from the front unlocks the room faster than waiting.
Participants with no direct reports delegate sideways or outwards: to a peer, a vendor, a student project partner. They can also practice the verification step on their own manager the next time work is handed to them.
Timing: the role play is the part that changes behavior. If you run long, cut the case discussion to two questions. Do not cut the role play.

Use, adapt and cite

This package is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. You may copy, print, adapt and share it in any course, workshop or internal training, including paid ones, as long as you credit the source with a link.

Citation

Pettersson, A. (2026). Teaching delegation: a session plan. Leaders ADAPT. https://www.leadersadapt.com/teach-delegation/

Link for your course page or syllabus

<a href="https://www.leadersadapt.com/teach-delegation/">Teaching delegation: a free session plan for managers and team leads</a> by Andreas Pettersson, Leaders ADAPT (CC BY 4.0)

Using the package does not imply any endorsement of Leaders ADAPT by your institution, and none is claimed. Teaching with it? Tell us at andreas@leadersadapt.com and we will list your course on the teaching packages page.

Keep going after the session

Participants who want the complete delegation method, plus the protocols for one on ones, accountability and team rhythm that sit beside it, can work through The 5-Minute Leader at their own pace.