Delegation sprint for team leads

Here's a training outline. Build it as a draft program in upcoach called "Delegation sprint for team leads":
one section per day, with a lesson,
worksheet, task list or check-in for each item, using the text and questions word for word.
Questions marked (1 = ..., 5 = ...) are 1-5 scales.
Don't publish the program or invite anyone. When you're done, list what you created so I can check it.

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Training: Delegation sprint for team leads
For: Team leads who hold on to too much work
Length: 5 days

Day 1: List what only you can do
- Lesson: Most of your week doesn't need you
  When you lead a team, your job changes from doing the work to getting the work done through other people. Most team leads keep doing a lot of the old job anyway: it's familiar, it's quicker to do it than to explain it, and it feels safer.
  The cost is quiet. You run out of time for the work only you can do: setting direction, making the decisions that are yours, developing your people, and dealing with the people above and around your team. And the people on your team miss the chance to take on bigger work.
  Today you look at where your time really goes. Write down everything you did last week, then sort it. Be strict: "only I can do it" means your role, your authority or a decision that's yours requires it, not that you do it better or enjoy it.
- Worksheet: Your work, sorted
  1. List everything you spent time on last week: meetings, recurring tasks, one-off jobs, and work you picked up because it was quicker to do it yourself. Use your calendar and sent messages, and aim for at least fifteen items.
  2. Mark each item with one letter: O if only you can do it (your role, your authority or a decision that's yours requires it), T if someone on your team could do it now, L if someone could do it after you teach them.
  3. Look at your O items. For each one, write why only you can do it. If the honest reason is "I'm faster" or "I like it", change it to T or L.
  4. Which of your T and L items take the most of your time?
  5. What would you spend that time on if you got it back?

Day 2: Pick one task to delegate
- Lesson: Choose a task you'll really hand over
  This week you hand over one task, all the way. One done well teaches you more than five half-delegated.
  A good first task comes back regularly, has a result you can describe in a sentence, and doesn't need to be done exactly your way. Avoid anything due this week: a deadline makes it too tempting to take it back. And don't only hand over the dull parts. Delegating a whole piece of work, including the decisions in it, is what helps someone grow.
  Then choose the person. Look for someone who has room for it, or whose other work you can move, and who would learn something from it. Ask yourself what they'd gain, not only what you'd lose.
- Worksheet: Choose your task and your person
  1. Write your three best candidates from yesterday's T and L items.
  2. For each one: does it come back regularly, can you describe a good result in one sentence, and would it be fine if it were done differently from how you do it?
  3. Pick one. What is it, and why this one?
  4. Who will you hand it to? What will they get from it?
  5. What do they already know about this work, and what will they need to learn?
  6. What's the real reason you've kept this task so far?

Day 3: Write the delegation brief
- Lesson: Hand over the result, not the steps
  Most delegation goes wrong before the work starts: the person didn't know what done looked like, or what they were allowed to decide. A short written brief fixes both.
  Describe the result and why it matters, not the steps you'd take. Say when it's due, what they need, and who they can go to. Then say how much authority they have. Pick one of four levels and say it out loud: look into it and tell me what you find; recommend what to do and I'll decide; decide and tell me what you did; decide on your own. A first hand-off often starts at "recommend" or "decide and tell me" and moves up as you both gain confidence.
  Last, agree on the check-ins: when you'll talk about the work, and what you'll look at. Check-ins agreed in advance stop you from hovering, and stop them from waiting to be asked.
- Worksheet: Delegation brief
  1. The task, in one sentence.
  2. Why it matters: who uses the result, and what happens if it's late or wrong?
  3. What does done look like? Write how you'll both know it's finished and good enough.
  4. When is it due? If it comes back regularly, how often?
  5. How much authority are they getting? Write the level as you'll say it: look into it and tell me; recommend and I'll decide; decide and tell me; decide on your own.
  6. What can they decide without you, and what should they bring to you first?
  7. What do they need: documents, access, people to talk to, time freed from other work?
  8. When will you check in, and what will you look at each time?
- Check-in: Day 3 check-in
  1. How ready do you feel to hand this task over? (1 = not at all, 5 = completely)
  2. How likely are you to take it back if it's done differently from how you'd do it? (1 = very unlikely, 5 = very likely)
  3. What worries you most about handing it over, in one sentence?

Day 4: Hold the hand-off conversation
- Lesson: Talk it through, then let them say it back
  Hand the task over in a conversation, in person or on video, not in a message. Book 30 minutes. Open with why you chose this task and why you chose them.
  Walk through your brief: the result, why it matters, the deadline, what they can decide and when you'll check in. Then ask them to say it back in their own words: "So we're sure we see it the same way, how would you describe what done looks like?" Their answer shows you what you didn't explain.
  Ask what they'd need and what worries them, and listen. If they ask how you've done it before, share it as one way, not the way. Before you finish, put the first check-in in both calendars. Afterwards, tell the people who used to come to you for this task that it's theirs now.
- Worksheet: Prep: the hand-off
  1. Who are you meeting, and when?
  2. Write how you'll open: why this task, and why them.
  3. Which parts of your brief do you most need them to understand?
  4. Write the question you'll use to have them say the task back in their own words.
  5. What will you say if they're not sure they have the time? What could come off their plate?
  6. Who else needs to know this task is theirs now, and how will you tell them?
- Task list: After the hand-off
  - Send them the brief in writing the same day, with anything you changed in the conversation
  - Give them the access, documents and introductions they asked for
  - Put every agreed check-in in both calendars
  - Tell the people affected who to go to for this task now

Day 5: Check in, then step back
- Lesson: Check in on the result, not the method
  The task is theirs now. Your part is to be available, check in when you agreed, and stay out of the way in between.
  In a check-in, ask before you look: "How's it going? What have you decided so far? What's in your way?" When something is done differently from how you'd do it, first ask yourself whether the result is still good. Often it is, and it's simply not your way.
  If the result is at risk, coach rather than take over: ask what they'd try next, and offer what you know. Take the task back only if the deadline or someone else is truly at risk, and say why. When the work is done, give specific feedback on what went well and make sure the people who use the result know who did it.
- Worksheet: Check-in plan
  1. When are your check-ins, and how will each one end? (For example: one thing that's working, and one next step.)
  2. Write the three questions you'll ask at the first check-in.
  3. What would make you step in before a check-in? Be specific.
  4. If they do it differently from how you would, how will you decide whether it matters?
- Worksheet: Day 5 reflection
  1. What did you hand over, and to whom?
  2. Which step this week was hardest for you, and why?
  3. What did you learn about the person you handed it to?
  4. What will you do with the time this task used to take?
  5. Which item on your day 1 list will you hand over next, and to whom?
  6. What do you want to work on with your coach next?
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