THE DELEGATOR

You'd love to delegate. But explaining the task takes longer than doing it. So you do it. This skill writes the brief — context, success criteria, what NOT to do — so the receiver doesn't need follow-ups. Hand off. Walk away.

THE PROBLEM

The reason you don't delegate isn't that you don't trust people. It's that the explaining-the-task tax is brutal.

By the time you've written 3 paragraphs of context, answered 4 follow-up questions, course-corrected when they did it differently than you'd have done it — you could have done it yourself in half the time. So you do it yourself. Forever.

This skill writes the kind of brief that doesn't need follow-ups.

THE SKILL

You give Claude:

The task (1–2 sentences)
Who you're handing it to (assistant, partner, contractor, kid, AI)
The desired outcome (what "done" looks like)
What you'd never want (the failure modes you've seen before)

Claude returns a delegation brief:

Context — what they need to know to do this well
Desired outcome — specific, observable
Success criteria — how you'll know it's right
Acceptable shortcuts — what they can skip if time is tight
What NOT to do — the failure modes, named
Deadline + check-in cadence
Where to find what they need (links, files, people)

The receiver opens the brief. They have what they need. They do the work. You don't get pinged.

3 THINGS YOU CAN'T SKIP

1. Name the failure modes specifically. "Don't make it boring" doesn't help. "Don't use the word 'leveraging' anywhere in this" does. Specifics save you the rewrite.

2. Define what 'good enough' looks like. Most delegators want 100%. They get 70% and rewrite. Naming the 80% threshold is what makes delegation work.

3. Give the brief BEFORE the deadline pressure starts. A brief written under pressure is incomplete. Write the brief 3 days ahead, hand off 2 days ahead.

INSTALL

Standard.

THE FULL SKILL FILE

---
name: delegator
description: Generates a delegation brief that prevents follow-up questions. Captures context, desired outcome, success criteria, acceptable shortcuts, named failure modes, deadline, and check-in cadence. Tailored to the receiver type (assistant, partner, contractor, kid, AI).
when_to_use: User wants to hand off a task and says "delegate this," "I need to brief someone on X," or "my assistant / partner / contractor needs to do this."
---

# The Delegator

You write delegation briefs that don't need follow-ups. Specific. Outcome-oriented. Names the failure modes.

## Inputs (ask if not provided)

1. **The task** (1–2 sentences)
2. **Receiver** (assistant / partner / contractor / kid / AI / other) + their experience level
3. **Desired outcome** — what "done" looks like
4. **What you'd never want** — failure modes from past hand-offs
5. **Deadline + budget** (time + money)

If desired outcome is vague, push: *"What does the finished thing look like? Be specific — file format, length, who's it for."*

## Output: delegation brief

DELEGATION BRIEF Task: [1-line title] For: [Receiver name + role] From: [User] Deadline: [date + time, or "no hard deadline"]

═══════════════════════════════════════ CONTEXT ═══════════════════════════════════════ [2–3 sentences: why this matters, who's it for, what's the broader context the receiver needs]

═══════════════════════════════════════ DESIRED OUTCOME ═══════════════════════════════════════ [Specific, observable. "X document, Y pages, in Z format, sent to A by B."]

═══════════════════════════════════════ SUCCESS CRITERIA ═══════════════════════════════════════

[Specific check 1]
[Specific check 2]
[Specific check 3]

What "good enough" looks like: [the 80% threshold]

═══════════════════════════════════════ ACCEPTABLE SHORTCUTS ═══════════════════════════════════════ If time is tight, you can skip:

[Shortcut 1]
[Shortcut 2]

═══════════════════════════════════════ WHAT NOT TO DO ═══════════════════════════════════════

[Failure mode 1, named specifically]
[Failure mode 2]
[Failure mode 3]

═══════════════════════════════════════ WHERE TO FIND WHAT YOU NEED ═══════════════════════════════════════

[Link / file / person] for [what]
[Link / file / person] for [what]

═══════════════════════════════════════ CHECK-IN CADENCE ═══════════════════════════════════════

[Time]: 5-min check-in (just to confirm you're not blocked)
[Time]: Final delivery

If you're stuck: [contact method] within [response time]

═══════════════════════════════════════ QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU START? ═══════════════════════════════════════ Reply by [time] with anything unclear. Otherwise I'll assume you're good to go.


## Calibration by receiver type

- **Experienced assistant / contractor** → Lighter context, heavier on success criteria
- **New assistant / contractor** → Heavier context, more specific NOT-TO-DO list
- **Partner / family** → Less formal format, but same structure verbally
- **Kid (chore delegation)** → Skip context, heavy on success criteria + visual checklist
- **AI agent (Claude / other)** → Heavy success criteria, ALL the NOT-TO-DO items, links to source files

## What NOT to do

- Don't write a brief longer than the task — if the task is 30 min, the brief is 10 lines
- Don't add fluff ("appreciate your help with this!")
- Don't use vague success criteria ("make it good")
- Don't include failure modes you HAVEN'T seen before (only real ones from your experience)
- Don't skip the "what you can skip" section — it's what makes the brief actually fast

## When the input is incomplete

- **Vague outcome** → "What does done look like? File format, length, recipient, deadline?"
- **No failure modes named** → "What did the last person do wrong? Even if 'they made it too long' — that's a failure mode."
- **No deadline** → "What's the latest this could land without consequences? That's the deadline."

## Delivery
End with: *"Hand it off. Don't follow up before the first check-in time. Trust the brief."*

SAFETY CHECK

Same as Day 1.

WHAT'S NEXT

Day 86 of 100. Pair with Day 44 — The Saying-No Script Library (for things you should decline rather than delegate) and Day 49 — The Personal CRM (track what you delegated to whom).