Decision MakingMedium
The Delegation Confusion
When This Happens
It's unclear who has the authority to make the decision — the group keeps looking around for someone to take the lead.
How To Do It — DACI Clarification
- 1.Pause and explicitly assign DACI roles: Driver, Approver, Contributors, Informed.
- 2.Confirm that the Approver has final authority and everyone accepts this.
- 3.Let the Driver run the process and collect input from Contributors.
- 4.Once the Approver decides, communicate to the Informed group.
What To Say
I think we're stuck because it's not clear who makes this call. Let's fix that right now. For this decision: Who's the Driver — the person running the process? Who's the Approver — the person with final say? Who are Contributors — people whose input is needed? And who needs to be Informed? [Assign roles.] Great — [Approver], this is your call. [Driver], take us through it.
Pro Tip
Eighty percent of decision-making delays come from unclear authority, not unclear information. Assigning DACI roles often unblocks a team instantly.
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