Andrew Pigott
6 min read
Andrew Pigott
6 min read
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Role Clarity & Decision Rights
Give people authority they can use.
Clarify responsibilities.
A 6-week programme focused on an agreed team, function or area of work.
We help you resolve gaps and overlaps in responsibilities, agree who can decide what and clarify how roles and teams work together.
You leave with practical role briefs and decision arrangements tested in everyday work, with follow-up to review how they are being used.
Who it’s for
Operations leaders, heads of service, function leaders and transformation leads whose teams face unclear ownership, repeated approvals or difficulties working across role boundaries.
Duration
6-weeks, followed by short reviews around 30, 60 and 90 days after handover.
Typical triggers
A restructure has left responsibilities unsettled, decisions routinely move upwards, several people approve the same work, or gaps and overlaps are creating tension between teams.
Format
Focused interviews, document review and meeting observation, followed by two working workshops, practical testing and handover.
What you’ll get
Clearer responsibilities and boundaries
Understand what each priority role is expected to achieve, where its responsibilities end and what it needs from others.
More reliable working relationships
Clarify handovers and shared responsibilities so people know what to provide, what to expect and how to address gaps.
Decision authority people can use
Agree who decides, whose input is needed, what limits apply and when an issue needs approval or escalation.
Practical arrangements tested in use
Try the agreed responsibilities and decision routes on real work, refine what proves difficult and establish how they will be maintained.
Ready to Connect?
Our approach
Clear responsibilities on paper often sit alongside uncertainty about who is really authorised to decide. Established relationships, expectations of approval and fear of blame all shape how people use their roles in practice. The Role Clarity & Decision Rights programme explores these dynamics so agreed remits can be taken up, trusted and respected in everyday work.
We explore whose agreement actually matters, alongside who formally owns the decision.
A decision may belong to one role on paper yet depend in practice on the blessing of a longstanding colleague with no formal remit. That influence can reflect valuable institutional memory, personal trust or an unwritten rule nobody has questioned.
We explore how these relationships shape delivery, helping distinguish where technical advice is genuinely needed from where an unspoken veto makes ownership impossible to exercise.
How we work
1. Understand how work happens
We agree the focus and hear from the people doing, receiving and overseeing the work.
Interviews, selected documents and meeting observation help us identify unclear responsibilities, repeated checks and decisions that stall. We also establish who can authorise changes.
3. Test on everyday work
Your teams try the authorised arrangements during weeks four and five. We use two review sessions to examine what happens, resolve practical ambiguity and identify where further decisions or support are needed.
Where a decision cannot be tested live, we work through a realistic example and record what still needs checking in practice.
2. Agree responsibilities and authority
Across two working workshops, we clarify the priority roles, recurring decisions and relationships between them. We agree where ownership belongs, what contribution others need to make and which safeguards remain necessary.
We identify any approvals required before the arrangements can be tested, alongside the support people need to take on or hand over responsibility.
4. Refine and carry forward
We update the role briefs and decision arrangements, bring the practical documents together and agree who will maintain them. Any unresolved issues or approvals are clearly recorded.
Short reviews around 30, 60 and 90 days after handover help you assess how the arrangements are being used and agree further adjustments.
What’s included
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An initial scoping and sponsor conversation.
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6 - 10 confidential interviews of 45 minutes.
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A focused review of relevant role documents, organisational charts, delegated authority, meeting terms of reference and recent decisions.
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Observation of one relevant meeting.
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Two 2-hour facilitated working workshops.
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Practical briefs for up to 6 priority roles, covering purpose, outcomes, responsibilities, authority and key working relationships.
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A decision rights map covering up to 6 recurring decision types.
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Targeted recommendations for up to two relevant meetings or approval forums, where needed.
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Two 60-minute review sessions supporting client-led testing.
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One 60-minute handover session and a consolidated working pack, including an overview of responsibilities, a simple decision log and agreed next steps.
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Three follow-up reviews around 30, 60 and 90 days after handover, with brief action notes.
We agree the boundaries before starting. Wider restructuring, formal job evaluation, comprehensive job-description rewriting and additional implementation support are scoped separately.
Your Effort
A sponsor who can secure decisions
The sponsor helps resolve disputed responsibilities and secure any approvals needed for testing. Allow around 6 to 8 hours for scheduled participation during the six weeks, plus the three follow-up reviews.
A coordinating contact
A named contact helps arrange participation, gather documents and track approvals. Allow around 1 to 2 hours a week for coordination, alongside attendance at relevant sessions.
Time from role holders and managers
Interviewees contribute 45 minutes. Selected colleagues attend the working workshops and testing reviews, bringing examples of unclear ownership, difficult handovers or repeated approvals.
A commitment to use the arrangements
Decision owners and managers test the agreed changes in everyday work, share what proves difficult and support colleagues taking on or handing over responsibility.
Need more context?
Related Programmes
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Related Insights
Frequently asked questions
Choosing the right support
Getting started and scoping
Our approach
What the work looks like day-to-day
Outputs and follow through
Commercials and procurement
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