Teams and cross-unit collaboration
Clarify Decision Rights and Consultation
Clarify who can decide how much in everyday work, and where consultation or approval is needed.
- People
- 4–20
- Session time
- 135 minutes
- Format
- In person
English session plan
Original program status: draft. Source safety category: Medium; this is not a guarantee of safety.
Preparation: Standard preparation. Facilitation team: Four roles, including someone with facilitation experience.
What this session can decide
Draft decision rights for everyday operations. Do not change statutory authority, rules, or contractual authority.
Outside its scope
- Do not override statutory authority.
- Do not finalise delegation in the absence of the relevant office-holder.
- Do not decide personnel authority through a participatory process.
Primary caution: Do not override statutory authority.
Before starting
- Question and scope
- Clarify who can decide how much in everyday work, and where consultation or approval is needed. Before starting, state the subject and time period in one sentence.
- What this session decides
- Draft decision rights for everyday operations. Do not change statutory authority, rules, or contractual authority.
- Output recipient
- The Recorder stores the final table tracking decision rights still needing confirmation, managing whom to check with, evidence needed, owner, and review date.
- Participation and information boundaries
- Explain the choices to pass, take a break, or leave. Keep personal information, confidential information, and attribute-based evaluation off the record surface. Assign Participant support separately.
- Operating roles
- Assign Lead facilitator, Recorder, Timekeeper, and Participant support before starting, and confirm who announces switching and stopping.
- Next review
- Set a review date, viewers, and the person responsible for the next decision on the table tracking decision rights still needing confirmation.
Who takes responsibility
- Lead facilitator
Keep Clarify Decision Rights and Consultation within its purpose and exclusions, and announce the start and end of each stage.
From before the start through the end
- Recorder
Record the decision-rights boundaries, agreement-and-evidence-certainty table, and table tracking decision rights still needing confirmation at each stage, then hand them to the recipient at the end.
From preparing record surfaces before the start through storage after the end
- Timekeeper
Notify the Lead facilitator 3 minutes before each stage ends and when switching to breaks or buffer time.
At the start of every stage and 3 minutes before its end
- Participant support
Receive requests to pass, take a break, leave, or check individually, and decide with the Lead facilitator whether resumption is possible.
From before the start through the end
Session flow
Minutes are measured from the session start. Method time, transition time, breaks and buffer are shown separately; they are not additional overlapping activities.
0–23 minutes
Map the boundaries of permission and consultation
Method: Permission Frontier · 0–20 minutes. Transition: 20–23 minutes (3 minutes).
Write everyday decision examples on cards and place them under Autonomy, Consultation, Approval, or Prohibited. Check the supporting rules and responsibility; separate unknown examples as unconfirmed.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support
Output: Decision-rights boundaries
Handoff: Pass disputed decision examples to the stage for separating agreement from certainty of evidence.
This stage may be shortened only in accordance with the stated conditions.
23–76 minutes
Separate agreement from certainty of evidence
Method: Agreement and Certainty Matrix · 23–73 minutes. Transition: 73–76 minutes (3 minutes).
For each proposed boundary, indicate agreement and confidence in the evidence separately. Record checks needed for proposals with high agreement but low confidence in evidence, and objections for proposals with low agreement.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support
Output: Agreement-and-evidence-certainty table
Handoff: Pass proposals with insufficient evidence or without agreement to the table tracking decision rights still needing confirmation.
This stage is not marked as shortenable.
81–114 minutes
Set review conditions for decision rights still needing confirmation
Method: Decision Debt Ledger · 81–111 minutes. Transition: 111–114 minutes (3 minutes).
For each undecided example, write the information being awaited and losses incurred while waiting. Specify whom to check with, an information-gathering owner, and a review date, and record interim handling until a decision is made.
Responsible: Lead facilitator; Recorder; Participant support
Output: Table tracking decision rights still needing confirmation
Handoff: Pass the tracking table to the authority responsible for the rules, decision-right holders, and operating staff.
This stage is not marked as shortenable.
What is retained and who receives it
Decision-rights boundaries
Owner: Recorder
Distinguish autonomous decisions, prior consultation, mandatory approval, and prohibited actions.
Agreement-and-evidence-certainty table
Owner: Recorder
Retain support or opposition separately from certainty of evidence.
Table tracking decision rights still needing confirmation
Owner: Recorder
Track whom to check with, evidence needed, owner, and review date.
Materials and setup
Material names, quantities, groups and handling instructions retain the fixed draft's original helper-derived guidance. Where a format is marked “Source material specification”, the entire bound English source material entry takes precedence over the old helper-derived format guidance. This format-only correction does not resolve other instruction or safety concerns. English names are not substituted into a Japanese-keyed lookup.
Everyday tools
- Dark writing implements
Quantity: 1 per person
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that ink flows and place them within participants' reach. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
- Floor tape
Quantity: 1 roll per group
Format: Low-tack masking tape
Check removability on an inconspicuous part of the floor or wall. Keep edges flat and do not obstruct routes.
- Issue sticky notes
Quantity: About 8 per person
Format: Source material specification: Approximately 8 challenge sticky notes per person, 75 × 75 mm
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Do not buy special notes; write Issue at the top of paper pieces. If participants fill them in, put one entry on each note and handwrite the necessary headings before starting.
- Current-handling sticky notes
Quantity: About 6 per group, for each group
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Write Current handling at the top and add a double border if using the same colour as the issue notes. There is no need to buy another colour; distinguish them by text and borders.
- Broad-tip pens
Quantity: 1 per person
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that ink flows and place them within participants' reach. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
- Sticky notes for individual deferred decisions
Quantity: 4 per person
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Do not buy a special product; write One deferred decision at the top of paper pieces. If participants fill them in, use one item per card and handwrite needed headings before starting.
- Writing implements
Quantity: 1 per person
Format: Dark broad-tip pens or whiteboard markers
Check that ink flows and place them within participants' reach. Avoid pale-coloured pens.
Sheets to prepare by hand
- Common-action copy cards
Quantity: 3 per person
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Do not buy a special product; write Common-action copy at the top of paper pieces. If participants fill them in, use one item per card and handwrite needed headings before starting.
- Headings separating how actions are decided
Quantity: 3 per group
Format: Source material specification: Three band signs per group for autonomy, consultation, and approval, approximately A3
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Write Decide autonomously, Decide after consultation, and Decide with approval on separate pieces, preparing enough of each type. Distinguish them by written headings even when using the same colour.
- Additional-information cards
Quantity: 6 per group; 2 per common action
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Do not buy a special product; write Additional information at the top of paper pieces. If participants fill them in, use one item per card and handwrite needed headings before starting.
- Surface for comparing agreement and certainty about issues
Quantity: 1 per group of 3–6
Format: Source material specification: One A3 four-quadrant sheet showing agreement and certainty per group of 3–6
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Label the horizontal axis Agreement on the solution and the vertical axis Certainty of the result, marking high and low at both ends of each axis. Leave space in the four quadrants for issues, current handling, and one action for review.
- Deferred-decision review table
Quantity: 1 per group plus 1 for whole-group consolidation
Format: Source material specification: A3 ledger sheets (1 per group plus 1 for whole-group consolidation)
Source-bound format display correction; the other fixed helper-derived guidance is unchanged.
Divide the work surface into 7 fields: deferred decision, what is lost while it is held, information needed to resume, state allowing a resumption decision, future handling, information-gathering owner, and review date. Write headings in text rather than relying only on colour.
- Deferred-decision review-date sticky notes
Quantity: 1 per held item
Format: Sticky notes about 75 × 75 mm, or A4 copy paper cut into 4 pieces
Write Review date, Information to check by then, and Checking owner, and place it beside the relevant held item.
Information to gather before the session
- Common-action originals
Quantity: 3 items per group
Format: A4 copy paper or viewing data with the same content
State the content, creation date, and person who checked it. If distributing it, also prepare a large-print version or viewing data with identical content.
Available at the venue
- Wall space or large paper for whole-group display
Quantity: 1 surface
Format: Large paper or a whiteboard
Write Wall space or large paper for whole-group display at the top. Leave enough space for sticky notes or paper pieces not to overlap, and use lettering readable from a distance for whole-group sharing.
Setup for each method
Permission Frontier
- One to five groups of 4–10
- One floor area per group at least 3 m wide for placing the three bands of autonomy, consultation, and approval side by side
- Nine areas per group for stacking and comparing duplicate cards by action, three areas per band
Agreement and Certainty Matrix
- One island table per group of 3–6; distribute people evenly
- One wall for the quadrant sheets, visible to everyone
Decision Debt Ledger
- A vertical surface at least 60 cm high per group, arranged with the oldest deferral at the top
- One tabletop surface per group divided into decide, wait, and withdraw areas
- One wall surface for rearranging items in order of the nearest review date
When to switch or stop
Fallbacks
- There are more than 15 decision examples.
Limit the scope to 5 examples with high frequency and impact.
Method guide: Permission Frontier
Stop conditions
- Interpreting statutory, contractual, or employment-related authority becomes necessary.
- Leave the proposal undecided and ask the responsible unit to check.
- Discussion turns to individual appraisal or disciplinary authority.
- Remove it from the session and refer it to formal personnel procedures.
Sources, rights and limits
This site has composed this programme's purpose, connections between methods, facilitation, roles, outputs, and switching conditions. See each method's individual page for its sources and licence.
Original source records and their required notices are retained below. Their presence does not mean a new legal or cultural-safety clearance. Original citation titles are kept in their source language.
Sources and required notices for the 3 methods used
Permission Frontier
- 対話の譜面編集部: 許可の境界線 — Original description and diagrams
- Source: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team: Permission Frontier | Original description and diagrams
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | This site's text and diagrams
- Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: No closed, ritual, or sacred cultural practice is used as a source; declining participation, sensitive information, and power differences are addressed in each method's limits and branches.
- Limits of this record: The editorial team independently created the text, procedure, and diagram. No exclusive rights are claimed over general dialogue operations or ideas themselves.
Agreement and Certainty Matrix
- Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): Agreement and Certainty Matrix — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White — Adaptation under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes made
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source: Liberating Structures Fieldbook (2026): Agreement and Certainty Matrix — Henri Lipmanowicz / Keith McCandless / Nancy White | https://www.liberatingstructures.com/agreement-and-certainty | Adaptation under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes made
- Source: CC BY-SA 4.0 | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
- Attribution: Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless; Keith McCandless and Nancy White | Original-source author and contributor credit
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | Japanese adaptation and this site's own diagrams
- Changes and adaptation: Adapted as a Japanese facilitation score; changes made
- ShareAlike: Provided under CC-BY-SA-4.0
- Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: No closed, ritual, or sacred cultural practice is used as a source; declining participation, sensitive information, and power differences are addressed in each method's limits and branches.
- Limits of this record: Adapted with changes as a Japanese facilitation score under CC BY-SA 4.0 and provided under the same licence. Only the current page is covered; material from June 2026 or earlier, official icons, and third-party material were excluded.
Decision Debt Ledger
- 対話の譜面編集部: 決定の負債台帳 — Original description and diagrams
- Source: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team: Decision Debt Ledger | Original description and diagrams
- Attribution: Taiwa no Fumen Editorial Team | This site's text and diagrams
- Cultural caution: open-method screening complete: No closed, ritual, or sacred cultural practice is used as a source; declining participation, sensitive information, and power differences are addressed in each method's limits and branches.
- Limits of this record: The editorial team independently created the text, procedure, and diagram. No exclusive rights are claimed over general dialogue operations or ideas themselves.
Japanese resources and historical source records
Original Japanese plan and its print view · Japanese operation pack or starter materials
An English print edition is not provided here. The linked plans, print views and operation materials are Japanese resources.
Historical recorded publication holds
The following original hold statements are retained verbatim with their fixed source versions. They are not a statement of current acceptance, nor does this historical label resolve a source-specific restriction.
- English translation and rendered-page independent acceptance pending
- Method dependency source/text SHA binding and current source-specific rights verification pending
- Publication not cleared
Historical fixed-source and English-draft provenance
Japanese program SHA-256: 7dbea9d8689e319505777dd27122d5217d004081e040826f319b159fcc5578a1
Fixed source context SHA-256: 0014dcc51d9b509a6404c1747d8704450cf071ef8b64699f5f58d398cd1b1e29
English draft SHA-256: b5e44b2533cd92e8b8314bdb7e7944048efd6c425689079fcd7d8c19330ecce9
- agreement-and-certainty: source
13cdbe0c8098aa84c53775fca536b69571d299e231c367a46eb1e0b07c1404e7; English draft7f7e862d4542f665bcfd6709643f84a82d0b573c6f8390e93bb3b83d9cf48b53 - decision-debt-ledger: source
c97cda4c55cf55e3187cfa2771d70efdea457cf1326a281f5facdcf786d228c2; English draft92962f7142e1df99277d1768201e4b5182455697bca8b0a4068eb5eebc23184d - permission-frontier: source
424228f83b7b24c1a3bbbc142bc1c9ebfd24afb5df3fc749f67507469f93624e; English draft5d9bb771ed471394d4a20a9fd8d7475a46961bd7e380f0af8e38c69b8e08e9a9
These hashes identify the checked inputs; they do not grant independent acceptance or publication clearance.