Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

NAFCU held its CEOs and Senior Executives Conference last week.  I want to share a fantastic idea that John Spence shared during his leadership workshop. The four levels of decision making.

Most organizations struggle with decisions.  Can I make this decision?  Do I need to consult with my boss?  A good delegation of decision making can really help get things done.  But how do you do that? 

Enter John Spence with a clever idea.  He created a matrix of decision making authority.  The following from one of his blog posts. 

Level 1 = Delegation

This is the kind of decision that I do not need to be involved in at all. You do not need to tell me about it – just make the decision completely on your own and implement it right away. You own this decision.

Level 2 = Discussion

Talk to me, or someone else in the organization, to get input, information and suggestions, but make the decision completely on your own. You also own this decision.

Level 3 = Consensus

On a decision like this let’s get the team together and talk it through. Let’s get everybody’s ideas, expertise and input, then we will make the decision together as a management team. We all own this decision together and will do whatever the team agrees is the best course of action.

Level 4 = My Call

A level 4 decision is ultimately my choice as the leader.  I will get everyone’s input, ideas, suggestions and expertise. We will talk it through together. But at the end of the day I will make this decision for the entire organization and it will be completely my responsibility. I own this decision 100%.

Simple.  Yet pretty powerful.  John noted that once he organized this system, he rarely encountered any level-4 decisions.  People became comfortable with making decisions, and things got done.  

Please read his post, and give it a shot.  Again, a pretty simple and powerful idea.