Delegation of authority

You ask your manager to take responsibility, but every decision is up to you.

Before you consider this a weakness in his leadership ability, ask yourself: Does he know what he can decide without consulting you?

Review a recurring situation at work: a customer discount, an urgent purchase, or handling a complaint.

▪️ Is the decision maker specific?

▪️ Are the limits of his powers written and understood?

▪️ Does he know the cases that require referring to you?

▪️ Does he have the necessary information and resources?

▪️ Does he review his decisions according to clear criteria?

If he made a decision within his authority, would you support it, or would you overrule it simply because you would have chosen another way?

Start with an iterative operational decision, defining its mandate, controls, and follow-up mechanism. Then monitor the quality of the decision and the speed of its completion, and intervene when there is a reason that requires it.

At Modern, we help organizations build matrices of authority and link them to roles and procedures, to clarify decision boundaries and accountability.

What decision still reaches your desk, even though there is a manager responsible for it?