Use the actual delegation, role records and supporting arrangements, with effective dates and any limits clearly identified.
Distinguish a request from an effective appointment
A request for coverage may precede the decision assigning authority. Preserve that sequence and explain which terms are confirmed. Do not turn an informal expectation into an effective power through drafting alone.
A promotion letter establishes an appointment more readily than it establishes every substantive managerial duty. Interim authority is normally bounded, so the record should say what triggered it, such as a leave or departure, and what condition ends it, whether a return, a permanent appointment or a fixed review date. Listing the specific powers actually delegated, such as budget approval, hiring decisions or signing authority, and naming any that remain withheld or require separate sign-off, is more persuasive than a title alone. An interim designation with no accompanying document defining its scope leaves an officer to guess at boundaries that were probably understood informally but never written down. Where the arrangement was later extended or made permanent, the record should show that separate decision rather than letting an original interim memo quietly stand in for it. A gap between the informal start of interim duties and the date any authorizing document was signed should be acknowledged rather than smoothed over. Dates matter more here than elsewhere, since the same record can look identical whether the interim period lasted briefly or continued well past its original expectation.