AIWorkDex
People Practice

Map one founder decision with DACI roles

Clarify process roles and escalation for one decision without changing formal authority.

Preparation
One facilitated decision session
Difficulty
Advanced
Task
Set decision rights
Back to the Task: Set decision rights

Before you start

Get what you need before you start

  • Name one decision and gather the company documents that establish formal authority.
  • Use an independent facilitator or professional route when direct work is unsafe or deadlocked.

Steps

Work through the method

Use the listed inputs and tools. Check the evidence when you need to verify a step.

  1. Check formal authority first

    Record the decision question, scope, governing documents, legal duties, board or ownership limits, and required escalation.

    Why it matters: A process-role method cannot grant or remove formal company authority.

    Input
    The named decision and current authorised company records.
    Output
    A bounded decision statement with unresolved authority questions flagged.
    Tools in this stepAtlassian DACI

    Evidence for this step

  2. Assign the process roles

    Agree a driver, one approver, contributors, informed people, factors, options, decision date, and escalation route.

    Why it matters: Each person can see how input becomes one accountable process decision.

    Input
    The bounded decision and confirmed formal limits.
    Output
    An agreed DACI record for this decision only.
    Tools in this stepAtlassian DACI

    Evidence for this step

  3. Record the decision outcome

    Capture the approved option, reasons, dissent, actions, owners, informed people, review trigger, and any escalation.

    Why it matters: Operations can execute only after the People roles and decision outcome are clear.

    Input
    The completed decision process and approver outcome.
    Output
    A dated outcome record with actions and review trigger.
    Tools in this stepAtlassian DACI

    Evidence for this step

Success checks

Check the result before you finish

  • One approver and one driver are explicit for the named decision.
  • The outcome respects formal authority and records dissent and escalation.

Failure modes

Watch for these problems

  • Stop when authority, safety, coercion, harassment, ownership, or deadlock needs independent professional help.
  • Do not reuse the role map as a general organisation design without separate review.

Tools

Choose the tools you need

Sources

Read the sources behind this practice

Check what each source supports and where the advice has limits.