Decisions
Decision mandates for small teams
24 September 2026 · 5 min read
Who may approve what, and up to which amount? A clear mandate is the cheapest governance tool you will ever introduce.
When nobody knows who can say yes, everything waits for the busiest person in the building. A written mandate fixes that.
Name the decision makers
List the people who can approve work. Not a role in theory — actual names. If nobody is named, nothing should auto-approve.
Set a cost limit
Give the team a mandate to approve known estimates below a set amount. Anything above it, or anything with an unknown cost, goes to a decision maker.
Re-decide when the order changes
If the estimate grows or the date slips, the original approval no longer covers it. Ask again — it takes minutes and avoids months of arguments.