A decision authority framework is a short, written guide that tells your team which decisions they can make alone, which need a quick check-in, and which genuinely need to come to you. Most owners can draft a working version in an afternoon. Here's how to do it, step by step.
Step one: list every decision that currently lands on your desk
For one week, write down every decision, big or small, that someone brings to you. Don't filter yet. You'll end up with a messy list of everything from "can I approve this refund" to "should we change suppliers." That mess is the raw material for the whole framework.
Step two: sort each one into three buckets
Go through the list and put each decision into one of three categories: decisions your team can make alone, decisions that need a quick check-in first, and decisions that genuinely need you. Be honest here. Most owners put too many things in the third bucket out of habit, not necessity.
Step three: write the rule, not just the decision
For each item, write the rule someone follows, not just the decision itself. "Refunds under $100, approve without asking" is a rule. "Refunds" is not. The framework only works if someone can follow it without needing to interpret what you meant.
Step four: set the escalation path for the genuinely tricky ones
For anything that needs you, write down how it should be raised, not just that it should be. A quick message, a flag in your project management tool, a five-minute end-of-day check-in, whatever fits how your team already works. Without this, "ask me first" just becomes another bottleneck with extra steps.
Step five: put it somewhere your team will see it
A framework buried in a folder nobody opens doesn't work. Pin it where your team already looks, a shared doc, a wiki page, the top of your project management tool. Then walk through it with them once, out loud, so questions come up while you're in the room rather than three months later when it's quietly being ignored.
Step six: revisit it after a month
The first version will be wrong in places. Some things you thought needed you didn't. Some things you handed off needed more guardrails than you gave them. Treat the framework as a draft for the first month, then lock it in once it's being used the way you wrote it.
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We're Simkul Solutions, and building frameworks like this with SME owners across Australia is exactly the kind of work we do. If you'd rather have someone draft the first version with you instead of doing it alone, book a call and we'll get started.