Set a threshold for decisions that need you

Not every decision in the business deserves your attention. A threshold is a simple line, based on cost or risk, below which your team decides on their own without checking with you first.

Without a threshold, people bring you everything just to be safe, and you end up approving small choices that barely matter while the big ones wait in the same queue. That trains your team to ask permission for everything instead of using their own judgment. I set mine around a spend amount, and I have watched how much lighter my own inbox gets once people stop checking with me for anything under it.

Try this today: pick one clear line, such as a spend amount or a type of customer request, and tell your team that anything under it is theirs to decide without asking. Write it down so it does not quietly slide back to you next week.