Lesson 2 · 18 min
"Take care of the WhatsApp orders" is not delegation: it is hoping it works out. Someone who really delegates hands over the goal, the size of the responsibility, the context, the tools, the deadline and the way to prove it is finished. It is what you would do with a new person on the team, and the agent deserves the same clarity.
Start the lesson
Goal: hand an agent the goal, context, tools, deadline and proof of completion in a one-page delegation sheet.
If one is missing, the agent fills the gap on its own. Tap each part.
The six parts come from competency 3 of the AI Management Area (delegation): goal, responsibility, context, tools, deadline and proof of completion.
Patrícia is going to hand Hora part of the order process. Four decisions before writing the sheet.
Task: "reply whether we deliver to Americana on Friday". Process: "put together Seu Antônio's order". Responsibility: "keep the restock orders from registered customers logged and ready for picking, every day".
Only the third describes an agent working toward an outcome. The first two describe someone pressing a button.
Patrícia delegates a narrow responsibility: restock orders from registered customers. New customers, negotiation and complaints stay out.
Good work for an agent happens every week with little variation, has a criterion that says whether it came out right, and takes place in systems and messages, not in the physical world. If it fails a filter, it stays with a person for now.
The restock order passes all three. Negotiating the hotel's annual contract does not: it happens once a year and depends on the relationship. It stays with Patrícia.
Can I say in one sentence how I'd know the agent got it right? If not, it isn't ready to delegate yet.
Acceptance criterion: what a good delivery is. Indicator: the number you look at every week, with a target. Deadline: how long each delivery can take.
To know if it is worth it, track the cost per accepted result: the month's cost (model usage, tools and your review time) divided by the deliveries accepted without correction. It is an estimate, and whatever was corrected cost money without delivering.
Criterion: an order that picking does not correct. Indicator: accepted without correction, target 95%. Deadline: logged within 30 minutes after the customer confirms.
Deloitte (Tech Trends 2026) treats agents as a new workforce: they need to be onboarded into the data and the operation, they need graduated autonomy with human oversight triggers, and the people who supervise them need training too. It is one consultancy's view, useful as a map.
In practice: the agent's first week is onboarding, with everything going through you. Autonomy goes up later, with evidence.
Every order goes out as a draft and Patrícia approves it. Juliana logs what had to be corrected. On Friday, the two of them go over the list together.
One sheet per delegated responsibility. It complements the job sheet: the role says who the agent is, the delegation says what it has been given now.
DELEGATION SHEET · <agent> · <date> · delegated by <name> SIZE: [ ] task [ ] process [ ] ongoing responsibility THREE FILTERS: repetitive? <yes/no> · verifiable? <yes/no> · in a system? <yes/no> 1. GOAL (what will be true when it is finished): <result sentence> 2. OUT OF SCOPE (what is not theirs): - <case 1> - <case 2> 3. CONTEXT (source · where it is · owner · valid until): - <price table> · <location> · <owner> · <date> - <customer records> · <location> · <owner> · <date> - <rules and policies> · <location> · <owner> · <date> 4. TOOLS (what · mode: read / write draft / write / send): - <tool> · <mode> · <limit> 5. DEADLINE: - Each delivery within <time> - If it does not finish on time: <notifies whom, how> 6. PROOF OF COMPLETION (what it shows, without me redoing it): - <log, number, link, report> ACCEPTANCE CRITERION: <what a good delivery is> INDICATOR AND TARGET: <number> · target <value> · checked <when> STOPS AND CALLS WHEN: <situation> → <person> (details in lesson 3) ONBOARDING: in week 1 everything goes through <name>; review on <date>
You are going to receive a delegation sheet for an AI agent. Pretend you are the agent, on your first day of work, and list: 1. The three questions you would need to ask before starting, because the sheet does not answer them. 2. A common situation in which you would not know whether you were done. 3. A context source cited without an owner or without a validity date. 4. A tool where it is not clear whether you can write or only read. Do not invent answers to the questions: just point out the gaps. Sheet: """<paste the sheet here>"""
Hora · delegated by Patrícia · Horizonte, fictional study company
One delegation practiced at Horizonte and one real one from your own work.
Write the delegation sheet that Patrícia hands to Hora for restock orders. Use the job sheet from lesson 1 as a base and don't copy the example: write it first, then compare. Run the "find the gap" prompt and fix what it points out.
Done when: the sheet has the six parts, at least two out-of-scope cases, each context source with an owner, and one proof of completion that you can check without opening the whole conversation.
List five activities in your area and run each one through the three filters. Pick one that passes all three and write its delegation sheet. Show the "out of scope" list to the person who does this work today and note what they add.
Done when: the sheet is saved with the six parts, the chosen activity passes the three filters in writing, and there is at least one item added by the person who does the work today.
4 questions. The explanation appears after your attempt.
Question 1 of 4
Patrícia wrote: "Hora, take care of the WhatsApp orders". What is missing, first of all?
Question 2 of 4
Which of these Horizonte activities passes the three filters to be delegated now?
Question 3 of 4
The agent says "I finished today's orders". Is that proof of completion?
Question 4 of 4
The agent cost R$ 400 in the month (adding up review time) and delivered 500 requests, of which 320 were accepted without correction. How do you calculate the cost per accepted result?
Pick an answer. The explanation shows up after you try.