Delegation Intake Brief: The Six Fields an Assistant Needs Before Starting

Most delegated work does not fail at the end. It fails at the start, in a request that sounds complete because it is confident. "Please handle the vendor renewal" contains a verb and a subject, but no outcome, no source, no authority, and no deadline. The assistant must then reconstruct the request through questions, and the owner experiences delegation as extra work.

An intake brief fixes that with six fields. It is not a project plan. It is the minimum information needed to begin without inventing facts.

Table of contents

• Why the brief comes before the task
• The six required fields
• Three weak requests, rewritten
• What the assistant should still ask
• Keeping the brief short
• Sources
• Frequently Asked Questions

Why the brief comes before the task

A brief is a shared definition of done. Without it, the owner evaluates the output by memory and the assistant optimizes for the wrong thing. The O*NET profile for executive administrative assistants lists tasks such as preparing correspondence, managing calendars, and coordinating information. Those tasks look routine, but each depends on knowing which version, which audience, and which decision is already approved.

The brief also protects the owner's authority. A request that says "sort out the contract" implicitly invites the assistant to make legal or commercial judgments. A request that says "collect the three missing exhibits and route them to counsel" keeps the decision where it belongs.

The six required fields

1. Outcome. One sentence describing the finished state. "A signed renewal filed in the vendor folder" is an outcome. "Look into the renewal" is a topic.
2. Source. The authoritative document, system, or person. Name the version and location. If the source is a conversation, record who said what and when.
3. Authority. What the assistant may do, what requires approval, and who the backup approver is. Use verbs: collect, draft, schedule, send from the approved template, or recommend.
4. Deadline. A date and time with a time zone, plus the consequence of missing it. "Before the October 28 meeting" is better than "soon."
5. Quality bar. The acceptance test. Examples: no broken links, every claim has a source, the client-facing version uses the approved template, or the file matches the prior quarter's structure.
6. Escalation route. The condition that stops the work and the person who decides next. Include what the assistant should do while waiting.

If any field is blank, the brief is not ready. The assistant can draft the missing fields for confirmation, but should not fill them with assumptions.

Three weak requests, rewritten

Weak: "Can you clean up my inbox?" Brief: "Outcome: every message from the last 14 days is labeled with one of four buckets and anything needing my decision is in a single list. Source: the work inbox only. Authority: label and draft replies; do not send. Deadline: Thursday 4 p.m. ET. Quality bar: no message left unlabeled; drafts use the approved tone guide. Escalation: anything from legal, a board member, or a named client goes to me before a draft is created."

Weak: "Please prepare the board update." Brief: "Outcome: a six-slide draft using the Q3 template. Source: the finance close file dated October 18 and the prior board deck. Authority: assemble and format; do not add new metrics. Deadline: October 27 noon PT. Quality bar: every number traces to the source file and the deck has no placeholders. Escalation: missing metrics or conflicting totals go to the CFO owner."

Weak: "Follow up with the candidate." Brief: "Outcome: a documented follow-up with the candidate's availability. Source: the approved role brief and the scheduling thread. Authority: send the approved scheduling template and propose three windows. Deadline: October 23 end of day. Quality bar: time zones stated explicitly; no compensation details. Escalation: any question about pay, visa, or start date goes to the recruiter."

The pattern is the same: narrow the object, name the source, bound the authority, and define the finish.

What the assistant should still ask

A good brief does not eliminate questions. It makes them specific. The assistant should ask when:

• two sources conflict
• the source is older than the decision it is meant to support
• the requested action would contact an external party
• the deadline cannot be met without changing scope
• the quality bar cannot be tested with the available evidence

Ask once, in writing, with the options and a recommendation. "The finance file and the prior deck show different recurring revenue. Which is authoritative for this update?" is a useful question. "Can you clarify?" is not.

Keeping the brief short

Six fields can fit in a short message or a task template. Do not turn the brief into a form that takes longer than the work. A paragraph per field is usually enough. For recurring tasks, keep the brief with the task definition and review it when the source or authority changes.

Record the brief's date and version. A task that runs for months will outlive the assumptions in its first request.

Sources

1. O*NET OnLine: Executive Administrative Assistants
2. U.S. Department of Labor: Hiring
3. NIST Privacy Framework
4. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a brief necessary for a five-minute task?

Use a lighter version. Even a short task needs an outcome, a source, and a stop condition. The six fields can collapse into one sentence.

Who writes the brief?

The owner owns the outcome and authority. The assistant can draft the brief from the request and ask for confirmation, which often surfaces missing information faster than an open question.

What if the owner refuses to provide a deadline?

Record that no deadline was given and ask for the next review time. Undated work drifts. A review time is a workable substitute for a hard deadline.