Grant decision-making authority

As your employees carry out delegated tasks, projects, or functions, they'll encounter situations that require decisions. You need to determine how much decision-making authority you'll grant them. That depends on two things: their capabilities and your confidence in them.

To determine the level of authority to grant an employee, ask yourself:

• "Does this person have a history of making good decisions?"

• "What are the consequences of wrong decisions for the delegated work? How willing am I to take the risk that these consequences could happen?"

• "What level of decision-making authority would best enable this person to complete this assignment successfully?"

Depending on your answers to these questions, you may choose one of the following levels of decision-making authority for the employee:

Level 1. Employee makes and implements decisions as needed without consulting you first.

Level 2. Employee makes decisions as needed and notify you before implementing them.

Level 3. Employee recommends a decision, which you must then approve.

Level 4. Employee suggests several alternatives, from which you choose one as the final decision.

Level 5. Employee provides you with relevant information; you develop alternatives and then decide with input from the staff member.

Level 1 is the highest degree of decision-making authority the person can have: You grant this level when a direct report is highly capable and when you have full confidence in their abilities and judgment.