How to help people feel empowered to act and work autonomously: Strategy #4.4 – Actively manage the authorising environment

We have previously published a series of people leadership strategies around the themes of people feeling supported, valued and safe; creating a ‘team environment’; supporting learning and growth; empowering staff and building autonomy; ensuring clarity of roles and expectations; and creating meaning and purpose.

Practical Ideas Guides

We are now going to explore the actionable steps that you can take to enable the suggested strategies and actions.  This is one in a series of 31 posts providing specific descriptions of the actions in practice. (There is one practical idea guide for each people leadership strategy)

So, this post focuses on theme 4 – helping people feel empowered to act and work autonomously.  In a previous post we have talked through 5 overarching strategies to support building an environment where people feel empowered to act and work autonomously:

4.1 Provide opportunities for empowerment

4.2 Set clear boundaries

4.3 Encourage people to ‘take responsibility’ 

4.4 Actively manage the authorising environment

4.5 Provide coaching and support

In this post we take a deep dive into the specific strategy of:

4.4 Actively manage the authorising environment

Leaders need to ensure support from key stakeholders outside the work area so that staff have the necessary permission and confidence to operate autonomously outside their immediate work team.

So, here are some of the actions that can be taken to put this leadership strategy into practice:

1. Communicate with key stakeholders your intentions about your team’s autonomy.   

Giving team members greater autonomy is not just about what happens within your team. Other people in the organisation need to understand and support the way you are working, particularly when team members are making decisions or taking actions that affect others outside the team. Your role is to create an environment in which team members can exercise appropriate autonomy without being second-guessed, undermined or inadvertently pushed back into seeking your approval.

1. Clarify what autonomy looks like in practice

Start by discussing with your team what you mean by autonomy. Avoid leaving it as a general principle – identify specific situations where people can make decisions, take action or solve problems without coming back to you. For example:

• “You can make decisions about how you organise your work without checking with me.”
• “You can respond directly to routine stakeholder requests within these parameters.”
• “If you identify a problem, you can take action to resolve it rather than waiting for me to decide.”
• “Come to me when the decision has significant risk, cost or broader organisational implications.”

The aim is to give people clarity about both their freedom to act and the boundaries around that freedom.

2. Identify where stakeholders may be affected

Work with your team to identify situations where their increased autonomy might be visible to, or have an impact on, other people. Ask questions such as:

• “Who might notice that we’re working differently?”
• “Who has previously expected these decisions to come through me?”
• “Where might someone question or challenge your authority to act?”
• “What situations are most likely to create confusion?”

This helps identify the stakeholders who need to understand the new approach before problems arise.

3. Proactively communicate the change

Talk with relevant stakeholders about how you are working with your team and why. Explain the benefits of developing greater ownership and decision-making capability, while being clear about the boundaries and situations where you still expect matters to be escalated. Where appropriate, involve team members in these conversations. This demonstrates confidence in their capability and gives them an opportunity to establish relationships directly with the stakeholders they will be working with.

You might say:

“I’m encouraging the team to take greater ownership of these decisions rather than having everything come back through me. So, if Sarah approaches you directly about this type of issue, she has my support to make the decision within the agreed parameters.”

4. Reinforce the message when autonomy is tested

Even after you have explained the approach, there will likely be occasions when someone bypasses the team member and comes directly to you or questions a decision they have made. Where the team member has acted within the agreed boundaries, resist the temptation to take the decision back yourself. Instead, redirect the issue appropriately and reinforce their authority.

For example:

“That’s something I’d like you to work through with Sarah. She’s responsible for making those decisions, and I’ve asked her to handle them within the agreed parameters.”

This is often where empowerment becomes real. If you routinely take decisions back when challenged, people quickly learn that autonomy only exists until someone senior disagrees.

5. Review and adjust the boundaries over time

Autonomy should develop as people’s capability and confidence grow. Periodically discuss with the team what is working and where the boundaries may need to change.

Ask:

• “Where are you still seeking approval unnecessarily?”
• “Where do you need greater authority?”
• “Are there situations where the boundaries aren’t clear?”
• “What decisions are you now ready to take on yourselves?”

When you actively communicate and reinforce your team’s autonomy with stakeholders, you create the broader authorising environment people need to take genuine ownership rather than simply being told that they are empowered.

2. Establish and communicate clear decision-making boundaries to stakeholders.    

Empowerment does not mean giving people unlimited authority to make any decision they choose. Effective empowerment involves giving people meaningful responsibility within clear boundaries that reflect their capability, experience and the risks involved.

Your role is to make those boundaries clear to both your team and relevant stakeholders, so people know when they can act independently, when they need input and when a decision needs to come back to you.

1. Clarify the decisions people can make

Work with each team member to identify the types of decisions they are expected and authorised to make without seeking your approval.

Be as practical as possible. For example:

• “You can agree changes to the team’s routine work processes.”
• “You can resolve routine stakeholder issues directly.”
• “You can make decisions within the agreed budget.”
• “You can allocate work within the team without checking with me.”

The level of autonomy should reflect the person’s capability and experience. Someone new to a responsibility may need tighter boundaries initially, with greater discretion as their confidence and capability develop.

2. Make escalation points explicit

People are more likely to act confidently when they know when they should involve you. Agree on the situations that require escalation, such as:

• Significant financial, safety, legal or reputational risk
• Decisions affecting other teams or broader organisational priorities
• Issues outside the person’s authority or expertise
• Situations where there are significant competing stakeholder interests

Be careful not to make the escalation criteria so broad that people end up seeking approval for everything. The objective is to provide a safety net; not recreate the approval process you are trying to move away from.

3. Clarify when stakeholders should have input

Some decisions will appropriately require input from other people. Make clear when stakeholders are being asked to provide advice or information and when they actually have decision-making authority.

This distinction can be particularly important where people are accustomed to having a manager make the final call. You might say:

“I’d like you to get their input before making the decision, but the decision itself sits with you.”

This helps prevent consultation from inadvertently becoming another form of approval.

4. Agree how stakeholders should work with your team

Explain to relevant stakeholders what you need from them to make the approach work. For example, ask them to:

• Provide information or advice when requested
• Raise concerns directly with the team member involved
• Respect the agreed decision-making boundaries
• Avoid routinely seeking your involvement or sign-off
• Give people the opportunity to explain and stand behind their decisions

Where a team member has acted within the agreed parameters, avoid allowing others to routinely second-guess the decision.

5. Review the boundaries as capability develops

Decision-making boundaries should not be static. Use one-on-one conversations to review how people are progressing and identify opportunities to extend their authority.

Ask questions such as:

• “Which decisions are you now comfortable making independently?”
• “Where do you still feel you need my involvement?”
• “Are there decisions you’re still bringing to me that you could reasonably own?”
• “What additional authority would help you be more effective?”

When decision-making protocols are clear and understood by everyone involved, people are more confident to act, stakeholders know when and how to provide input, and you are less likely to become an unnecessary bottleneck in your team’s work.

3. Encourage direct working relationships across organisational boundaries.

When you give team members greater autonomy, they need to be able to work directly with people in other teams and functions. This can sometimes be difficult when there are differences in hierarchical level – for example, when your team member is relatively junior to the person they need to negotiate or make decisions with. Your role is to help remove these hierarchical barriers and establish an expectation that people work directly with the person who has the relevant responsibility, regardless of their position in the organisational hierarchy.

1. Ask key stakeholders to reinforce the message with their teams

Once you have agreed the approach with your key stakeholders, ask them to communicate it to the people who will interact with your team members. Make it easy for them by providing a few simple messages, such as:

“Paul’s team members have my support to make decisions in this area. If you’re dealing with one of them, work directly with them rather than coming through me.”

“You don’t need to come to me for approval on these matters. They have the authority to work this through with you.”

This helps ensure that the message about autonomy travels beyond the people you have spoken to directly.

2. Make the authority of your team members visible

Where appropriate, introduce team members directly to the stakeholders and explain their responsibilities and authority. This can be particularly useful when someone is taking on a new area of responsibility.

For example:

“I’d like you to work directly with Sarah on these issues. She has responsibility for this area and will be making the relevant decisions.”

This public endorsement can be particularly powerful when the person is relatively junior in the hierarchy.

3. Encourage people to work directly with each other

If you notice people routinely using managers as intermediaries, gently redirect them to the person who actually owns the issue.

For example, if another manager approaches you about something your team member is responsible for, you might say:

“That’s something I’d like you to work through directly with James. He’s responsible for that area and has the authority to make the decision.”

Similarly, coach your own team members to approach the relevant people directly rather than automatically coming through you.

4. Support your team when hierarchical dynamics get in the way

Sometimes a team member may technically have the authority to make a decision but still feel uncomfortable challenging or negotiating with someone more senior.

Use one-on-one coaching conversations to help them build confidence. Ask:

• “What do you need to say to them?”
• “What authority do you have in this situation?”
• “What might be making you hesitant?”
• “How could you approach the conversation confidently and respectfully?”

If someone outside the team repeatedly ignores the agreed arrangements, step in to reinforce the boundary rather than expecting your team member to continually fight the battle themselves.

5. Reinforce direct relationships over time

Creating new patterns of working can take time. Look for examples where people are successfully working across organisational boundaries and acknowledge them. Over time, the aim is for people to stop thinking, “I need to talk to their manager” and instead think, “Who actually owns this issue, and how can we work with them directly?”

When you actively support direct relationships across organisational boundaries, you help remove unnecessary hierarchy from day-to-day work and give your team members the confidence and legitimacy to exercise the autonomy you have given them.

4. Publicly back and support your team members when they exercise their authority.

Empowerment loses credibility if team members feel they will be supported only when they make decisions that you or other stakeholders agree with. People need confidence that you will stand behind their right to make decisions within the agreed boundaries – even when the outcome is not what you would have chosen. Your role is to support the person and the empowerment arrangement publicly, while using private conversations to reflect on decisions and build capability.

1. Back people when they have acted within their authority

When a team member has made a decision within the agreed boundaries, avoid automatically taking over when someone questions or disagrees with it.

You might say:

“That decision was within Sarah’s area of responsibility, and I support her having made the decision.”

Or:

“James had the authority to make that decision. He considered the information available and made the judgement he felt was appropriate.”

This reinforces to both your team and stakeholders that delegated authority is genuine.

2. Don’t undermine people by reversing decisions unnecessarily

It can be tempting to step in when a stakeholder disagrees with one of your team member’s decisions, particularly if you would have made a different choice yourself. Before doing so, consider whether the decision actually needs to be changed.

If you routinely overturn decisions simply because they are different from your own preference, people will quickly learn that the safest option is to seek your approval before acting.

Where the decision is within the agreed parameters, allow the team member to stand behind it and, where appropriate, work through the disagreement themselves.

3. Separate support from agreement

Supporting someone does not mean claiming that every decision they make is necessarily the best possible decision. If a decision has significant consequences or needs to be reconsidered, deal with that appropriately, but avoid undermining the person’s standing in front of others.

You might say publicly:

“I support Sarah having made the decision within the authority we’ve given her. Let’s understand what information and considerations led to it.”

This allows the decision to be examined without turning the conversation into a judgement about the person’s capability.

4. Use setbacks as opportunities to develop judgement

If, with the benefit of hindsight, a decision could have been better, discuss it privately with the team member. Start by understanding their thinking at the time rather than judging the decision based on what is now known.

Useful questions include:

• “What information did you have available at the time?”
• “What options did you consider?”
• “What assumptions were you making?”
• “What would you do differently if you faced the situation again?”
• “Is there anything we should change about our decision-making process?”

The objective is to improve judgement and capability, not to make the person regret taking ownership.

5. Be clear about the difference between learning and accountability

Supporting autonomy does not mean removing accountability. If someone repeatedly makes poor decisions, ignores agreed boundaries or fails to consider important information, a more direct leadership response may be necessary.

The message should be:

“I trust you to make decisions, and I will support you in doing so. I also expect you to learn, exercise good judgement and take responsibility for the consequences of your decisions.”

When people know that you will support them when they exercise their authority – and help them learn when things don’t go as planned – they are much more likely to take genuine ownership rather than playing safe and referring every decision

What Next?

Having read this list, some questions you may want to ask yourself might be:

• Are there one or two ideas emerging for me that I might want to put into practice?
• What is the smallest thing I could do that might have a positive impact?
• How will I hold myself accountable for following through on my actions?

Good luck!