Problem · Everything depends on the managing director
Nothing works without you. That is exactly the problem.
When every approval, every customer question, and every exception lands with you, the team waits for you. The way out isn't more discipline but clear rules on who decides what.
Delegation and decision matrix
What you decide. And what no longer applies.
Enter what lands on your desk today. For each item, decide who decides from now on, within what limits, and whether you are informed beforehand, afterward, or not at all.
Your plan
5 of 5 rows complete.
Die Beispielzeilen sind nur ein Anfang. Überschreibe sie mit deinen eigenen Einträgen.
Assumptions and limits
- The matrix only works if the team knows it and you stick to it, even when you would have decided differently.
- The limits are examples. Set them so that a mistake within them is affordable.
- Delegating takes knowledge. What only you know, you have to write down first.
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How you'll notice
Your calendar is full. The queue outside your door, too.
- The team asks you even about small things, because nobody knows what they may decide themselves.
- On vacation you read emails, because otherwise offers stall.
- You postpone strategy and settings because day-to-day work leaves no room.
Understand the causes
Why everything lands with you.
- 01
Decision rights are not defined
- How you'll notice
- The team would rather ask than decide wrong.
- Why it happens
- Nobody knows where their room to act ends, so it ends at zero.
- What helps
- Set boundaries for the most common questions, like in the matrix above.
- Limit
- Guardrails don't replace trust. They just make it discussable.
- 02
Knowledge lives only with you
- How you'll notice
- Only you know the customer history, pricing logic, and special agreements.
- Why it happens
- What is in your head, nobody else can apply.
- What helps
- Write down one thing each week that only you know today.
- Limit
- Experience can't be written down completely; you pass on the rest by working together.
- 03
Decisions get reopened
- How you'll notice
- When someone else decides differently than you would, you take over again.
- Why it happens
- Every reversal teaches the team to ask right away.
- What helps
- When results deviate, first ask how the decision came about, then sharpen the rule instead of the decision.
- Limit
- For real risks to customers or money, you may step in. That belongs in the framework.
- 04
Commitments aren't visible
- How you'll notice
- You ask whether something is done because you can't see it otherwise.
- Why it happens
- Tasks and commitments live in heads and chats.
- What helps
- Record every delegated task with a responsible person and a due date.
- Limit
- Visibility is not a control tool. Check results, not every intermediate step.
Ways to solve it
Hand off without letting go of what matters.
| Way | Enough if | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Delegation matrix in a document | The team is small, and you talk through the rules together. | It gets forgotten when nobody maintains it. |
| Fixed decision round per week | Many questions can wait a few days. | Urgent topics still land with you. |
| Build a second leadership layer | The company carries one more leadership position. | Expensive and slow; without rules the bottleneck just moves one level down. |
| Peak One | Open decisions, commitments, and delegated tasks should be visible to the team. | You set the rules yourself. Peak One shows them, it doesn't enforce them. |
Peak One in action
From the queue to clear ownership.
- TriggerWhat do I really have to decide today?
- 01 · DecisionSignalManagement Today shows what needs a leadership decision today.
- 02 · DecisionUnderstandingPending Decisions lists open decisions; Decision Memory shows what was decided earlier and why.
- 03 · ProcessDecisionWhat you hand off, you describe once in the Process Builder of Peak SOP so others carry it out the same way.
- 04 · CommitmentActionThe task is in Work with an owner; Accountability People shows who promised you what.
The apps for it
Available in Peak One.
Management TodayAvailablePeak CommandWhat needs a leadership decision today?
Pending DecisionsAvailablePeak CommandWhich decisions are still open?
Decision MemoryAvailablePeak CommandWhat did we decide earlier, and why?
Process BuilderAvailablePeak SOPHow do we describe the process?
Accountability PeopleAvailablePeak AccountabilityWho promised me what?
For delegated work
Who takes what on.
Three steps
Fewer questions for you. In four weeks.
- 01 / 03
Note down questions for a week
Write down every question and approval that lands with you. The most frequent ones go into the matrix.
- 02 / 03
Fill in and share the matrix
Set the guardrails, discuss them with the team, and store them where everyone can find them.
- 03 / 03
Sharpen after four weeks
Check what still lands with you anyway, and add the guardrails for it instead of deciding yourself again.
Frequently asked questions
Briefly answered.
What should I delegate first as managing director?
Decisions that come up often, carry little risk, and only wait today because you're not there. Discounts within a range, rescheduling appointments, and small orders are typical candidates.
How do I keep quality from suffering?
Through boundaries, not control. Define how far someone can decide and when you get asked first. Describe important processes once, so that others can carry them out.
Does software even help with this problem?
Only partly. You set the rules for who decides what. Software helps make open decisions, commitments, and tasks visible, so nobody has to ask you.
Keep exploring
What's included.
- FunctionTasks & projectsProjects as a board, tasks in the daily plan, one chat per project.View
- FunctionGoalsOne goal, three milestones, routines and this week's tasks.View
- Use caseDecisions in the teamVote quickly, record the result, and look it up later instead of discussing it again.View
- Software categoryProject management softwareEvery project task with a person, a due date, and a visible status.View
- ProblemUnclear responsibilitiesTasks stay undone because everyone thought someone else would handle them.View
- ProblemPostponed decisionsDecisions sit on the agenda for weeks, and the work waits.View
✦ A Peak principle
Start with less. Finish more.
Focus is a decision
More problems
Typical bottlenecks in growing companies, each with a tool you can try right away, the causes, and the path Peak One provides for it.
Solve it once. The rest follows.
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