Module 2

Delegating well: what to hand over, and how to brief it

Delegation is the moment where supervision begins, and where most of it goes wrong. A busy lawyer says, ‘Can you have a look at the Alder limitation point?’ in the corridor, and goes into a meeting. The junior spends six hours producing a ten-page memo on the wrong question, because nobody said what it was for, who would read it or when it was needed. The supervisor, handed the memo at five o’clock, finds that it is not what was wanted, and either rewrites it or sends it back with irritation. Both people feel that the other has failed. Neither has: the brief failed. A good brief takes five minutes and saves hours. It gives the person the task, the purpose, the form of the result, what good looks like, when it is needed, how long to spend, where to start, whom to ask, when you will look at progress and what to avoid. This module covers what to delegate and what to keep, how to match the task to the person, how to write and give a brief and how to check that it has been understood. The Delegation Brief Builder in the labs checks a brief against the ten ingredients. All the people are invented.

General education on supervising legal work and giving feedback, using invented people, firms and matters. It is not legal or employment advice, and it does not state the professional or employment rules of any country. Those differ and change: check the rules that apply to you and take advice.