Latest / New Manager Conversations with Fexingo: First 90 Days, Managing Former Peers, and Leadership Basics / How New Managers Can Create a Decision-Making Framework
Transcript
- Lucas: So you've been a manager for maybe two months. You've survived the first few weeks, you've had some one-on-ones, you've delegated a project. But there's one thing that's probably still eating up way more of your time than it should — and that's every single decision landing on your desk. Luna: Oh, that's real. The 'let me just check with my manager' reflex. I've seen teams where nothing moves until the boss says yes. Lucas: Exactly. And the trap is that new managers often swing between two extremes. Either they try to control everything — which kills momentum and wears them out — or they delegate everything without any structure, which leads to chaos, inconsistent choices, and eventually more firefighting. Luna: So what's the middle ground? You need a system, but you don't want to create a bureaucracy either. Lucas: Right. The middle ground is a decision-making framework. Not a thick process document. I'm talking about something simple — three tiers of decisions — that your team can internalize in a single meeting. Luna: Give me the tiers. Lucas: Level One — low-impact, reversible decisions. Things like which font to use in a slide deck, what time to schedule a meeting, which stock photo to pick. The team member can decide alone, no consult needed. They just inform you afterward. Luna: Okay, that's the easy one. But I've seen managers who still want to weigh in on fonts. That's a trust issue. Lucas: It is. And part of being a new manager is learning to let go of those micro-decisions. Level Two — moderate impact, somewhat reversible. For example, offering a client a 10 percent discount to close a deal, or shifting a deadline by two days. The team member can decide, but they need to check in with you first — a quick chat, maybe five minutes. Luna: So it's a 'consult before you act' kind of thing. Lucas: Exactly. It means you're still looped in, but you're not the bottleneck. Level Three — high impact, hard to reverse. Things like changing the pricing model, restructuring the team, or committing to a major partnership. Those need full team alignment — a meeting, a discussion, a clear decision with buy-in. Luna: And who defines which decisions fall into which tier? The manager, or the team? Lucas: That's the key step. You don't just announce the tiers. You co-create them with your team. Take thirty minutes in a team meeting and map out the kinds of decisions that come up. Let people categorize them. You'll be surprised — sometimes they'll put things in Level One that you thought were Level Two. And that's a good sign that you can trust them more than you think. Luna: I love that. But let me push back a little — doesn't this add overhead? Now you're categorizing decisions instead of just making them. Lucas: It's a one-time investment. In my experience, the first session takes about thirty minutes. Then people remember the framework. And after a few weeks, it becomes automatic. The real overhead is what happens without it — the constant pings, the unclear expectations, the second-guessing. Luna: Fair. So the payoff is time saved later. Lucas: And trust built. When your team knows they can make Level One calls without fear, they move faster. And they feel empowered. I've seen this in practice with a marketing team at a B2B SaaS company I worked with. The new manager was overwhelmed — every social media post, every email subject line, every A/B test variation needed her approval. She was working weekends. Luna: That's unsustainable. Lucas: Totally. So she ran a tier workshop with her team. They realized that most social media posts were Level One — low risk, easy to reverse. A/B test designs were Level Two — consult, but quick. Only campaign budget changes and brand voice shifts were Level Three. Within two weeks, her weekend work dropped to zero, and the team was happier. Luna: Did she ever feel like she lost control? Lucas: She said the opposite. She felt more in control because she was only focusing on the decisions that actually mattered. And the team respected her more for trusting them. Luna: I think a lot of new managers worry that if they delegate too much, they'll seem unnecessary. But really, it frees them up to do the higher-level thinking. Lucas: Exactly. Your job as a manager is not to make every decision. It's to create the conditions where good decisions get made. A framework like this is one of the fastest ways to do that. Luna: Okay, so once you have the tiers, how do you make sure the team actually uses them? Is it just a poster on the wall? Lucas: Good question. The first few times someone makes a decision, you reinforce it. 'Hey, that was a Level Two call — thanks for checking in. Next time, you've got it.' Or if someone escalates a Level One, you gently remind them they can decide on their own. It's about building the muscle. Luna: So it's coaching, not just policy. Lucas: Exactly. And you also revisit the tiers quarterly. As the team grows or the business changes, a Level Two might become Level One. That's a sign of maturity. Luna: Alright, I'm a fan. But let me play devil's advocate — what about decisions that cross team boundaries? Like, a marketing decision that affects sales. Whose tier is that? Lucas: Great catch. For cross-functional decisions, you need a separate but simple rule: if it affects another team, it's at least a Level Two — you consult with that team's point person before deciding. That avoids surprises. Luna: Makes sense. So the framework doesn't exist in a vacuum. Lucas: Right. And if you're a new manager, I'd recommend starting with just your own team's decisions before tackling cross-functional ones. Get the first tier right, then expand. Luna: You know, this ties back to something we talked about a few episodes ago — setting boundaries with former peers. A decision framework actually makes those boundaries clearer. Lucas: Absolutely. When everyone knows which calls the team can make and which need manager input, there's less awkwardness. It's not personal — it's the system. Luna: So if a listener wants to try this, what's the concrete first step? Walk me through it. Lucas: Schedule a thirty-minute team meeting. On the whiteboard or a shared doc, draw three columns: Level One, Level Two, Level Three. Then ask the team to brainstorm the decisions they face regularly. Write them all down, then sort them together. Don't finalize it in that meeting — take it away, think about it, and then share the final version by end of week. Luna: And you encourage the team to challenge your categorization? Lucas: Absolutely. If someone argues that a decision should be Level One instead of Level Two, listen. They might be right. And if you disagree, explain why. That transparency builds trust. Luna: I like that you're not just handing out a template — you're inviting the team into the process. Lucas: That's the only way it works. If you just dictate the tiers, it feels like another rule. If you co-create them, it feels like a shared tool. Luna: And a shared tool that saves everyone time and frustration. Lucas: Exactly. And honestly, if today's episode helped you think about your own decision-making as a new manager, that's the kind of thing we love hearing. If it was worth a coffee to you, you know where to find us — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just a way to keep this show ad-free and focused on practical tools like this one. Luna: Yeah, a small way to say 'this helped me' and keep the conversation going. Lucas: Exactly. So back to the framework — one more thing I want to mention. After you set the tiers, the next step is to give your team a simple rule for when they should escalate versus decide. I call it the 'two-minute test.' Luna: What's that? Lucas: If they can explain the decision and their reasoning in under two minutes, and it's a Level One or Two, they should just go ahead. If it takes longer than two minutes to explain, it's probably complex enough to be a Level Three — bring it to the team. Luna: That's a neat heuristic. Quick to say, easy to remember. Lucas: Yeah. And it respects everyone's time. The goal is not to eliminate decisions — it's to make the right ones at the right level. Luna: So if I'm a new manager listening, what's the one thing I should do this week? Lucas: Pick the three most frequent decisions your team brings to you. Categorize them into the three tiers. Share that with your team and ask if they agree. Then start redirecting Level One decisions back to them. That's your first step. Luna: Simple and actionable. I love it. Lucas: Alright, that's it for today. Next time we'll talk about something a lot of new managers dread — how to give feedback to a senior team member who's been at the company longer than you have. Luna: Oh, that's a good one. See you next time.