An original practical exercise from The Byte N. Start with an everyday situation and adapt it to your context.
Give the purpose
Explain who needs the work and why. A person can make better local decisions when they understand the outcome.
Define finished
Agree the output, quality checks, owner, and timing. Leave room to ask questions rather than treating silence as agreement.
Show the dependency
Name what is ready and what is still missing. Share relevant context in a place the recipient can find again.
Confirm understanding
Ask the recipient to describe the next step in their own words. Agree how to raise a blocker without blame.