What you are asking for
You want the team to take useful initiative. Someone changes a way of working without consulting you, and you are trying to work out whether the change was inside their remit.
What the system hears
“Will I still be able to propose something if this attempt doesn’t work?”
What that produces
The reaction to an initiative is information about what is possible. If the first response is only about permission, the person may conclude it is safer to ask about everything. If only the happy outcome gets applause, other people will avoid attempts whose outcome is uncertain.
You can welcome what the person set out to improve while examining what they committed. An agent drafts a clearer reply: they can have it reviewed and try it inside an agreed remit. Changing a refund, a contract or an access right calls for other limits. Writing those down before the action also protects the people who take initiative.
When a boundary was not clear, say so and set it with the team. If it was crossed, deal with the consequences and look for what happened. A shared review has to protect people and sensitive information; it does not require a public confession.
The decision
Choose one kind of initiative you want to make possible. With the team, write down what can be decided alone, what needs an agreement, and what means stopping. Give a concrete example, a contact who is available, and a trial period.
On the next initiatives, start by understanding the intent and the effects. Put right what has to be put right first if damage is under way. At the agreed check-in, ask whether the boundary let people act and whether the support announced was actually there. Adjust it from the cases you meet.
From where you sit
- Engineering: check the authorised remit before changing a system other people use.
- Management: give a contact and an expected response for when an attempt meets its limit.
- Customer relations: a case outside the procedure can flag an exception worth examining.
To discuss
Which recent initiative showed that our boundary was clear, or that it needed pinning down?
Check it elsewhere: Amy Edmondson’s work on psychological safety and team learning is in Already written.