Imagine telling your team you’ll be away for two weeks and won’t be checking messages. What would still need your approval by Wednesday?
Perhaps someone needs you to approve a customer discount, decide which job gets priority or settle a disagreement between departments. Each interruption seems small. Together, they show you where the business depends on your judgement to keep moving.
Track the decisions that land on your desk
For five working days, keep a short list of the decisions people bring to you. Record who asked, what they needed to decide and what made it hard for them to decide it themselves. Pay particular attention to decisions you’ve already made for them before.
At the end of the week, pick one recurring decision that is frequent enough to slow the team down and safe enough to hand over. A refund within a defined limit is a better place to start than a major supplier contract.
Give one person a clear decision to own
Take the refund example. Tell the person handling the request what outcome you want, what information they need and where their authority ends. They might be able to resolve straightforward cases within an agreed amount, with unusual cases or repeat claims escalated to you.
Walk through two recent examples together. Ask what they would do and why. If the right answer depends on information only you can see, give them access to the information or find a way to get it to them. If you keep approving cases after agreeing they can handle them, the team will learn to keep asking.
Review the decisions after the fact
Try the new arrangement for two weeks while you’re still available for exceptions. In your review, ask how many decisions the team handled, how many still reached you and what happened for the customer or the business. Use one or two real cases to sharpen the guidance.
Then look at the list you made in week one. Which other decision could move the same way? Hand over the next one only once you’re satisfied the first is working.
If you can’t yet take two weeks away, try one afternoon. Tell your team when you’ll be available again and agree what genuinely needs an interruption. The calls that still come through will tell you what to work on next.
Talk to John about where your business still depends on you.