Free delegation template for business owners
The Seven-Day Decision Handover Plan: a practical delegation worksheet for founders with a team in place who still handle routine approvals and exceptions.
Turn one decision that keeps coming back to you into a clear handover. Agree what your manager owns, what they can decide and when to involve you. Then test it in the work.
Personalised priorities · Ready-to-use manager message · Editable workbook
See your priorities first. Email yourself the plan, manager message and editable workbook. Free. Phone optional.
A delivery date needs changing. A customer wants an exception. Two managers disagree about what comes first. Each question looks small; together, they keep you involved in work you thought you’d handed over.
Adapt every role, limit and review date to your business.
ONE DECISION · PRACTICAL START
Build one handover and the words to start the conversation with your manager.
Build my first handover →WIDER PATTERN · FULL ASSESSMENT
Explore where the business depends on you before choosing what to change.
Explore the full Assessment →ONE DECISION · ANTONY’S PERSONAL VIEW
Reply to your Plan email with one recurring decision you’re struggling to hand over. I’ll send one brief personal suggestion about what to clarify first.
One response per founder, focused on one decision. Use roles rather than employees’ names. No purchase or call required.
A look inside the Plan
Instead of answering the same question again, agree the choices the delivery manager can make next time.
The example shows how to give them room to act while keeping customer promises and spending limits clear. Check they have the information and capability to use that authority.
Illustrative example. Adapt the boundaries to your business.
“What stopped you deciding this without me?”
Why the same questions keep returning
You handed over the job. But did you hand over the decisions that come with it?
When a manager is unsure what they can approve, spend or promise, asking you is the sensible option. That may be one reason the same questions keep returning.
The Plan helps you make those boundaries clear for one recurring decision. You also check whether the person has the information, capability and time to take it on.
For founders with a team already in place who still handle routine approvals, exceptions and competing priorities.
A note from Antony
“I’m Antony Draper. When everything comes back to the founder, I look at the agreement behind the work. Does the person know what they own, what they can decide and when to escalate?
This Plan gives you a way to have that conversation about one decision in your business.”
Experience in sales and operations at HP, Capita and in the public sector.
ANTONY DRAPER · ANTONY DRAPER ADVISORYRecord one recurring decision, its owner, the outcome, decision limits, information needed and exceptions that require your involvement. The fillable PDF includes a worked delivery example and prompts for agreeing the handover with a manager.
It is a worksheet for handing over one recurring decision. A company-wide delegation of authority matrix covers many roles and decision types. Start with this smaller agreement, test it on a suitable case and use what you learn before widening it.
The Plan is arranged over seven days. Start with one decision and the first conversation prompts; you do not need to complete every worksheet before using it. The time needed depends on the decision and the person taking it on. If no suitable case occurs that week, test the agreement when one does.
Pick a decision that came back after you handed over the work. The Plan helps you examine the authority, information and boundaries behind it, then agree what needs changing. Check capability and competing commitments too. Decisions that still need your approval stay within their existing limits.
Yes. Reply to your Plan delivery email with one recurring decision you’re struggling to hand over. Antony will send one brief personal suggestion about what to clarify first. One response per founder, focused on one decision. No purchase or call required. Use roles rather than employees’ names.
Requesting the Plan does not subscribe you to marketing or register you for an event.
Your first handover
Use the Plan to agree:
Then try it on a suitable case and review what happened.
You’ll receive your tailored seven-day action plan, three priorities, an editable handover brief, a completed example, a when-to-involve-me template, a ready-to-edit message to your manager and a before/after tracker, alongside the fillable PDF. Your online workbook also lets you save, print and download your handover. Start with one decision and the conversation prompts, then use the worksheet to record what you agree.
A practical exercise to try over seven days, starting with one suitable decision.
If the same pattern appears across the business, explore the Founder Dependency Review to examine what keeps bringing work back to you and which changes to prioritise. Start with a fit call; further implementation help is a separate decision.
Free plan, manager message and workbook by email. Phone optional.
Practical guides for handing over one recurring decision: choose an owner, agree their authority and review what happens.