An empowered team can still spend its day waiting for permission.
You may tell department heads to use their judgment, then ask to approve every schedule adjustment, vendor conversation or routine service recovery. From their perspective, checking first becomes the safest choice. From yours, the interruptions begin to feel like a lack of initiative.
Before deciding the team needs more confidence, examine the rules you have created. What can someone decide independently? What requires consultation? What requires immediate escalation? Have those distinctions been made explicit, or are people expected to infer them from your reactions?
Choose one recurring decision and talk through its boundaries together. Consider budget authority, resident safety, company policy and who else needs to know. A dining manager might resolve a routine preference concern within agreed limits while escalating a potential safety issue immediately. The right boundary depends on your operation.
Ask the manager to describe their reasoning before offering your answer. “What do you recommend, and what have you considered?” creates a different conversation from “What should I do?” If you regularly reverse reasonable decisions without explaining why, pay attention to what that teaches.
Put it into practice: review one week of interruptions and identify a decision that appears repeatedly. Agree on its authority, limits and communication expectations with the appropriate people. Then review how the arrangement worked. Coaching can help you explore where control serves the community and where it has become a habit that limits both your team and your own time.
Share your perspective
Which recurring decision would you like your team to handle more confidently? I would like to hear your experience—even if you see it differently.
Email Douglas your thoughts at douglas@thriveon365.com. No need to book a call to share a thought. Please leave out identifying resident, employee or confidential company information.
Douglas Blake | Executive Director & Coach · Explore coaching with Thrive On 365
