# The Decision Routing Table

The routing table is the one page your team reads instead of calling you. Every row is a decision they now make on their own, on a specific condition, without your phone ringing. It is built directly from your interruption log: you take the rows you sorted as Rule or Confidence and turn each one into a row here.

## The four-category transform

Every interruption on your log sorts into one of four categories, and only two of them become rows on this table.

| Category on the log | Where it goes | Why |
|---|---|---|
| **Rule** | A row on this table | A standing rule with a clear threshold handles it. The team runs the rule. |
| **Confidence** | A row on this table | The team can do it; they only lacked the authority. The row grants it. |
| **Owner-only** | Never on this table | Only you can decide it (a customer relationship or your expertise). Routing it away is the mistake. |
| **Missing-SOP** | Not a row yet | No procedure exists. Write the one-page SOP; until it exists, the team brings it to your manager. |

> Owner-only never becomes a row. That guard is the difference between delegating the work and losing a customer.

## Filled example: Ridgeline Heating & Air

The manager is Renata Cole, Service Manager. She is the single escalation point for the team. The owner name never appears on the table by design, so the persona holds even when a copy is pinned to the shop wall.

| # | Situation | Condition / threshold | What the team does, and who decides | If it exceeds this, go to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Parts overage on a job | Extra parts under $250 over the quote | Tech approves and notes it on the ticket | Renata Cole (Service Manager) |
| 02 | Warranty callback | Within the 90-day labor warranty | Office books it no-charge, references the original ticket | Renata, if outside 90 days |
| 03 | Emergency vs scheduled tune-up | A no-heat or no-AC call lands against a booked tune-up | Dispatch bumps the emergency, reschedules the tune-up the same week | Renata, if it cancels an install |
| 04 | Invoice courtesy discount | Up to 5% on a documented service issue | Office applies it and notes the reason | Renata to 15%; the owner above 15% |
| 05 | Reschedule a customer | Move within 48 hours, first request | Office reschedules, no approval needed | Renata on a third no-show |
| 06 | Second tech on a job | Job is running long and a helper is free | Dispatch sends the nearest available tech | Renata, if it pulls someone off a booked job |
| 07 | Maintenance-plan sign-up | Standard single-system plan at $18/mo | Office signs them up on the spot | Renata for multi-system custom pricing |
| 08 | After-hours fee waiver | Active plan member, the $95 call-out fee | On-call tech waives it and notes the account | Renata for a non-member waiver |
| 09 | Backordered part pickup | Will-call pickup under $400, primary supplier | Tech picks it up and logs it on the job | Renata over $400, or a new supplier |
| 10 | Diagnostic-fee refund | Customer declined the repair, refund the $95 | Office refunds per policy and notes it | Renata to refund a completed repair; the owner over $500 |
| 11 | Small tool or consumable | Purchase under $75 at will-call | Tech buys it and submits the receipt | Renata over $75 |
| 12 | Crew coverage for a sick call | Reassign the day's board | Renata reassigns (already her call) | The owner, if it cancels a same-day install |

That is 12 decisions off the owner's desk. Every condition is a number or a named situation, never "small amounts," so nobody has to guess where the line is.

## The default rule

**Anything not on this table: bring it to Renata Cole, not to the owner.** If a situation is not covered above, or a condition is exceeded, it goes to the manager by name. One default target keeps the whole thing simple: the team never has to work out who to ask.

## What is deliberately not on the table

These stay with the owner. They are not interruptions to route away; they are the few calls only the owner should make.

- A repair-or-replace recommendation a customer asks for on site
- Pricing a full system replacement
- Taking on a new commercial account
- Hiring or letting someone go
- Approving overtime that changes the day's revenue plan

## The one missing SOP

One item from the example log is a process gap, not a routing decision: **how to handle a customer disputing a diagnostic fee they already paid.** Until that one-page procedure is written, the team brings it to Renata. It does not go on this table. The moment the SOP exists, it can become a rule card and a row.

## When you do escalate, bring these five

Escalating well is a skill. When something goes to Renata, the team brings the decision, not just the question:

1. **The situation.** What is happening, in one or two sentences.
2. **The decision needed.** The single call that has to be made.
3. **The options.** The realistic choices you see.
4. **Your recommendation.** What you would do, and why.
5. **The deadline and the risk.** When it must be decided, and what is at stake.

## The second time it becomes a rule

The first time an uncovered situation reaches Renata, it is a genuine escalation. The second time the same situation arrives, it is no longer an exception: it is a missing rule. When that happens, it is proposed as a new row on this table at the weekly standup. That is how the table grows tighter over 90 days, and the same question is never answered twice.

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## The blank table (fill this from your log)

Copy this block. Add one row per Rule or Confidence item on your interruption log. Leave Owner-only items off entirely.

| # | Situation | Condition / threshold | What the team does, and who decides | If it exceeds this, go to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |  |  |  |  |
| 02 |  |  |  |  |
| 03 |  |  |  |  |
| 04 |  |  |  |  |
| 05 |  |  |  |  |

**The default line, always present:** Anything not on this table, bring it to __________________ (your manager, by name), not to the owner.

**Check each row before you post it.** Is the condition a specific number or a named situation, not "small amounts"? Does the escalation name a real person? Is any Owner-only item hiding in the table? Fix those three and the table is ready for the wall.
