Delivery Manager · Cheatsheet

Lead Delivery Manager Cheatsheet

A short reminder sheet that pairs with the full playbook. Use it in a meeting when you need the next move, not a long read. Tap “What this means” on any card if a heading is unclear.

Civil Service specific Universal any sector Both

MAP-01

Frameworks

Civil Service Universal

DDaT: 9 skills · 4 levels, Associate to Head

GDS Service Standard: 14 points, 3 groups

GovS 002 (IPA): mandated project delivery std

MSP5: 7 principles · 7 themes · 7 processes

Green Book: Five Case Model for business cases

Scrum · Kanban · Lean · SAFe · PRINCE2 Agile · Double Diamond

DL-01

The Role

Civil Service

Lead sits above Senior DM (G7), stepping into Head of Delivery (G6) territory.

Run daily:

Right problem?
Sustainable pace?
Capability growing behind us?

DL-02

Delivery at Pace

Both

Pick one: MoSCoW (scope talks) · WSJF (competing asks) · RICE (backlog) · Now/Next/Later (roadmap)

Test every approval: what decision does this actually change if skipped?

Use DACI/RAPID so "who decides" is never ambiguous.

DL-03

The Basic Unit

Universal

Standup = blockers, not status theatre
Retro = one real change, not a vent
Protect core delivery hours from meetings
Model the honesty you want back

IN-01

Influence Without Authority

Universal

Currency order: evidence > narrative > relationship > reciprocity > escalation (last resort)

Manage Closely: SRO and finance. Keep Satisfied: high power, lower day-to-day interest.

IN-02

Org Boundaries

Both

Cross-team RACI, published not implied
Working agreement per recurring dependency
Say "we" not "them and us"

IN-03

Tone & Communication

Universal

Team: high detail. SRO: outcome + ask.

RAG: status to what changed to action to ask

Escalation: situation to impact to options to recommendation to decision by [date]

BD-01

Capacity & Transformation

Universal

The change route dips before it climbs, that's normal, not failure.

Coaching ladder: Direct to Coach to Support to Delegate

Ready signal: they surface risk before you ask

GV-01

Governance & Assurance

Civil Service

Rhythm: Daily async to Weekly RAG to Monthly board to Quarterly gateway

Groom RAID weekly, never the night before the board.

Case gates: SOC to OBC to FBC

GV-02

Standards & Quality

Civil Service

WCAG 2.2 AA is the floor, not the aspiration
GOV.UK Design System components by default
Decision log and lessons learned outlive the programme

GV-03

Troubleshooting: symptom to first move

Universal

!Scope creeping: write the scope line, route new asks through it

!Watermelon RAG: reward the next person who reports red early

!Quiet slippage: re-baseline against real velocity, tell people once

!Budget drifting: reforecast now, bring options before finance flags it

!External blocker: escalate today with a date, not another nudge

!Change resistance: bring the influencers in as co-designers

REF-01

Field Reference

Both

One-minute checklist when it's on fire:

Name the single biggest risk, one sentence
Scope, people, or dependency problem?
What's the one decision that unblocks the most, who owns it
Tell your SRO before they hear it elsewhere
Protect the team from the noise while you sort it

Standards: DDaT, GDS, IPA, GovS, MSP

Governance: RAID, RAG, RACI, SRO

Prioritise: WSJF, MoSCoW, RICE

Change: ADKAR, OBC/FBC/SOC