02 — Decision Rights & RACI
Decision rights live in one place so we stop relitigating "who calls this?".
Roles: R = Responsible (does the work) · A = Accountable (one only, signs off) · C = Consulted · I = Informed
Abbreviations: CEO · COO · HoD (Head of Delivery) · HoC (Head of Coaching) · CL (Commercial Lead) · DSL (Designated Safeguarding Lead) · DPO (Data Protection Officer) · Ops · Finance · Board
| Decision | R | A | C | I |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accept a new client | CL | COO | HoD, Finance | CEO, Board (if Tier 1) |
| Reject a client on ICP / ethical grounds | CL | CEO | COO, DSL | Board |
| Pricing discount > 10% | CL | COO | Finance | CEO |
| Pricing discount > 20% | COO | CEO | Finance, Board | — |
| Launch new cohort | HoD | COO | HoC, Ops | CEO |
| Pull a coach from a cohort mid-flight | HoC | HoD | DSL (if safeguarding) | COO, CEO |
| Accredit a coach (Associate → Coach → Senior) | HoC | COO | Supervisors | CEO |
| Suspend or offboard a coach | HoC | COO | DSL, Legal | CEO, Board (if Sev 1) |
| Open / close safeguarding case | DSL | DSL | HoC, COO | CEO; Board if material |
| Publish quarterly client report | HoD | COO | DPO (privacy), Evidence Lead | Client |
| Publish annual public impact report | Evidence Lead | CEO | DPO, Legal, Board | All staff |
| Issue material correction to a published claim | Evidence Lead | CEO | Legal, Board | Public |
| New product / strand launch | COO | CEO | HoD, HoC, CL | Board |
| Hire (any role) | Hiring Manager | COO | Finance | CEO |
| Hire (exec) | COO | CEO | Board | — |
| Spend > £10k uncommitted | Budget Owner | Finance | COO | CEO |
| Spend > £50k uncommitted | COO | CEO | Finance, Board | — |
| Sub-processor / data sharing agreement | DPO | COO | Legal | CEO |
| Declare Sev 1 incident | On-call | COO | DSL, Legal | CEO, Board |
| Issue public statement | CEO | CEO | Comms, Legal, Board chair | All |
Principles
- One accountable per row. "Joint A" is a euphemism for nobody.
- Delegate downwards, escalate upwards. Each role should push 1–2 decisions down per quarter.
- Disagree and commit. Once A decides, R executes; dissent goes to the QSR, not the corridor.
- Document the call. Material decisions land in the Decision Log (Linear label
decision) with date, options considered, and rationale. - Reverse cheaply, decide quickly. Two-way-door decisions don't need consensus.