How to Build an Authority Matrix
A business becomes transferable, saleable and capable of growth on one condition: it must be written down who may decide what. Unwritten, every decision travels to one person and the company stops when that person is away. This piece explains how to build an authority matrix.
The exercise takes an afternoon and requires no software. The hard part is not writing it but applying it — because the first test facing whoever writes the matrix is changing their own habit.
Before You Start
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- List the decisions
- See the concentration
- Notice who asks
- Separate the critical
The current position needs seeing before the matrix gets written.
List the decisions
Write down the decisions taken in the past month: pricing, discounts, spending, hiring, supplier selection, delivery commitments. Mark who made each. The list takes an hour and usually shows a more one-sided picture than expected.
See the concentration
If most decisions gather under one name, the case for a matrix makes itself. That observation alone generates the willingness to write one in most businesses.
Notice who asks
On which subjects does the team come for approval? Frequently raised matters are the first candidates for delegation; rarely raised ones can wait.
Separate the critical
Not every decision has to be delegated. Decisions shaping the company’s future can stay at the top; those slowing daily flow need to move down.
Step 1 · Set the Thresholds
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- Set a spending threshold
- Define a discount limit
- Treat commitment authority separately
- Write the exception route too
Delegation works when tied to amounts and subjects rather than people.
Set a spending threshold
Write down who approves expenditure below a given amount. The threshold can start low and rise over time; what matters is that one exists. Searching for the right figure is the most common excuse for setting none.
Define a discount limit
How far the sales team may discount belongs in writing. Unwritten, every discount request travels upward and sales slow down.
Treat commitment authority separately
Delivery dates and special terms carry risk independent of amount. That authority needs defining on its own.
Write the exception route too
Situations requiring departure from the threshold will arise. Where that route is unwritten, the threshold collapses at the first exception.
Step 2 · Write the Matrix
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- Build four columns
- Write roles, not names
- Separate notification from approval
- Leave nothing blank
One page suffices and anything longer goes unused.
Build four columns
Decision type, who decides, up to what limit, who is informed. Those four cover nearly every situation and fit on a single page. More detailed matrices get written and not used.
Write roles, not names
“The sales lead approves” rather than “Ahmet approves.” A matrix tied to people gets rewritten whenever people change.
Separate notification from approval
Some decisions require no approval but do require awareness. Without that distinction, every notification becomes a wait for approval.
Leave nothing blank
Any decision type without an entry defaults automatically to the old arrangement — the founder. Matters deliberately left out of scope should be stated as such.
Step 3 · Make It Stick
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- Send the question back
- Allow mistakes
- Review outcomes regularly
- Raise the thresholds
The real difficulty sits here, and it usually originates with whoever wrote the matrix.
Send the question back
When approval is sought for a decision the matrix covers, the answer is a reminder rather than a decision. Difficult the first few times, self-sustaining after that. The reason matrices go unapplied is usually not the team but a founder accustomed to answering.
Allow mistakes
Delegated authority will sometimes be used badly. Withdrawing it after every error empties the matrix of meaning. Where the limit was respected, the mistake counts as a learning cost.
Review outcomes regularly
Once a month, look together at decisions made under delegated authority. That builds confidence and shows whether the thresholds are set correctly.
Raise the thresholds
If the matrix works, thresholds should rise over time. A static matrix recreates the bottleneck as the business grows.
Step 4 · Move the Knowledge
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- Write down the pricing logic
- Move customer history into a system
- Note the reasoning behind exceptions
- Delegate the access too
Delegating authority works alongside delegating knowledge.
Write down the pricing logic
Someone given discount authority who does not know how the price is built cannot use it well. Cost and margin logic has to be written, otherwise delegated authority produces guesswork rather than judgement.
Move customer history into a system
Special agreements, past problems and exceptions held in memory cannot be transferred. Even a basic record makes that knowledge portable.
Note the reasoning behind exceptions
Where “why does this customer get a different price” has no written answer, the new decision-maker either applies it wrongly or keeps asking.
Delegate the access too
Someone given decision authority without access to the relevant system holds it on paper only. The two need defining together.
A Solid Digital Foundation
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- Access should belong to the organisation
- Keep at least two administrators
- Hold the inventory alongside the matrix
- The same structure enables growth
The most overlooked part of delegation is digital access.
Access should belong to the organisation
Domain names, servers, email administration and search console permissions tied to personal accounts mean delegation has not happened. How site ownership is verified and permissions granted to multiple users is explained in the Google Search Central documentation. Authority without access is only responsibility.
Keep at least two administrators
With single-administrator accounts, nothing can be done when that person is unreachable. This is the digital counterpart of the authority matrix.
Hold the inventory alongside the matrix
Which service, on which account, with which renewal date. That list belongs as an appendix to the matrix.
The same structure enables growth
An authority matrix serves delegation as much as succession; it is the only route to delegation as a team grows. We make that connection in our guide to the period and handle the build within process consulting.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sık Sorulan Sorular
Even a team of five does, because it determines whether work continues during the founder’s week away.
Start at an amount whose misuse is recoverable. Setting a figure matters more than finding the perfect one.
Not where a notification mechanism exists. Control comes from decisions being visible rather than from making every one.
It usually stems from fear of error. Stating plainly that mistakes within the limit carry no consequence resolves that resistance.
An annual review suffices, with interim updates when the team structure changes or thresholds are frequently exceeded.
The subject where approval is sought most often — usually discounts or small purchases, where the effect is felt immediately.
Source: Prepared as an implementation guide from the succession and transfer preparation findings covered in this set.