Useful change begins with a specific question. Work through the ideas below, then use the field exercise to test one of them in context.
Make decisions visible
Write down which decisions a role can make alone, which need input, and which require approval. Review the list after a project stalls; a recurring bottleneck is a signal that ownership is unclear.
- Name one accountable owner per decision.
- Record the reason and next review date.
- Let the people affected challenge the assumptions.
Use a short operating rhythm
A weekly meeting should resolve obstacles, not repeat status updates. Share progress in writing beforehand and spend live time on choices, risks, and dependencies.
- Open with the most important outcome.
- Close with an owner and date for each action.
- Cancel meetings that have no decision to make.
Coach through questions
When a teammate brings a problem, ask what they have tried and what trade-off they see. Give context and boundaries before prescribing a solution. This builds judgment without leaving someone unsupported.
- Describe the result you need.
- Agree on the next checkpoint.
- Give feedback on the work, not a personality label.
The decision-rights card
Use this when a decision moves between people without a clear owner. It is a small agreement, not a new approval hierarchy. Write it for one recurring decision before trying to map the whole organization.
- Name the call
Describe the decision in one sentence. Separate the choice from the work that follows it.
- Choose an owner
Give one person authority to make the call inside stated limits. List who must be consulted before the deadline.
- Set the boundary
Write the budget, quality or risk condition that would move the choice to someone else.
- Close the loop
Record the decision, why it was made, who needs to know and when it should be reviewed.
Imagine a product team waiting for three managers to approve a minor release note. The card names the product lead as decision owner, asks support to flag customer risk by Tuesday, and sends the final note to all three teams. Approval is reserved for claims that change the product promise.
Decision: State the choice in one sentence. Owner: Name the person who will make it.
Input: List the people to consult and the deadline for their input. Silence is not approval; choose a fallback when a reviewer is unavailable.
Boundary: State the budget, safety or customer-impact limit that requires escalation. Due: Record the decision date.
Record: Write the chosen option, the reason, who was informed and the date for review. Put this record where the team already works.
Do not call someone the owner while keeping every meaningful choice above their level. Authority and accountability have to travel together.
RESEARCH CONTEXT / Google re:Work: team effectiveness ↗
Try it in your next workweek.
Pick one stalled decision this week. Assign an owner, list the missing information, and set a date to decide.
A five-day workload map you can actually act on
A full calendar does not show how much work a manager can absorb. First count time once, then record the requests waiting outside the calendar. Use the following fictional 37.5-hour week as a reconciliation exercise, not a benchmark for staffing or a target number of direct reports.
- Choose one ordinary working week. Keep confidential names out of the worksheet. Divide actual time into planned delivery, people support, coordination, unexpected work and unallocated time. A meeting belongs in one category even if it serves several purposes.
- Reconcile the categories with the hours actually worked. Record overtime separately rather than silently increasing the available week. For interrupted work, record the interruption duration; do not also count the entire original booking as completed delivery.
- Keep a second list for unfinished requests: requester role, decision needed, estimated effort, deadline and consequence of waiting. Estimates belong in this queue, not in the actual-time total.
- Choose one adjustment with the team: stop a low-value meeting, change a decision owner or protect a delivery block. Record who agrees, what moves and which request remains at risk. Repeat the audit before claiming the adjustment worked.
Diagram text: Actual time: planned delivery: 15 h; Actual time: people support: 9 h; Actual time: coordination: 6 h
| Field | Example or check |
|---|---|
| Actual time: planned delivery | 15 h |
| Actual time: people support | 9 h |
| Actual time: coordination | 6 h |
| Actual time: unexpected work | 5 h |
| Unallocated time | 2.5 h |
| Reconciliation | 15 + 9 + 6 + 5 + 2.5 = 37.5 h |
| Queued request, excluded from actual time | Review handover checklist: estimated 2 h; due Thursday |
| One proposed adjustment | Replace a 1 h status meeting with an asynchronous update; owner checks Thursday whether the review was completed |
The 2.5 hours are not guaranteed spare capacity: they may be fragmented or already reserved for work that was missed in the log. Record the largest uninterrupted block as well. If the two-hour request cannot fit, agree an explicit trade-off; do not interpret the audit as a productivity score for an individual. Copy the worksheet below for a second week and compare like with like.
Hand over the unfinished decision, not just the welcome pack
An induction can explain the role while concealing the work that is already stuck. Give the newcomer one bounded live decision and a record that distinguishes established facts from unresolved assumptions. This is an invented teaching case, not an account of a real employee.
- Choose one low-risk unfinished item. Record its current version, intended outcome and the evidence already available. Do not transfer confidential personnel information into a public onboarding worksheet.
- Name the remaining decision, its owner and the boundary the newcomer must not cross. A prepared draft is not an approved release.
- Ask the newcomer to explain the next action back in their own words. Resolve an ambiguous owner or missing permission before assigning a deadline.
Filled handover: customer-help draft v3 is ready; product claim approval is absent; the product lead retains approval authority; the newcomer checks two broken links in a copy; checkpoint Thursday with the lead. Acceptance means the links are checked and the unresolved approval is still visible, not that the newcomer publishes the draft.
Reusable record: item/version __; confirmed facts __; open decision __; authority retained by __; safe next action __; checkpoint __; evidence of completion __. Review the record when ownership changes; do not silently turn a temporary support task into permanent accountability. CIPD's induction guidance provides the onboarding context; this working record is an proposal.
Source: www.cipd.org.