The Boundaries You Need To Filter Input
By: Austin Walker
Tags: Management, Business, Work, Teamwork, Leadership

There are a few sure things in life.

My daughter is never going to drop her favorite doll, but if she’s holding my iPhone it’ll drop from the highest point in our house.

When I’m craving ice cream after 7:00 pm, the Mcdonald’s ice cream machine will be “broken.”

But more to the point of this article, when I’m working on a project at work, there will be people who think they have more input in the situation than I am willing to give them. People will assume that they have a certain level of input or influence when in reality they are overstepping.

Just because someone has a way to express their opinion on your performance at work does not mean they get the space in your thoughts.

But how do you categorize the level of input someone gets? How do you put boundaries up that firmly and identify where someone is allowed to be and where they are not?

To put some parameters on this, our team uses some internal language to help gauge how involved or influential a person can be in a particular situation. These categories are fluid. Someone may be at a VOTE level in one part of your life and a VIEW level at another. Other times, a person may start with a VAPOR level of involvement, and as the project develops could end up having a VOICE.

Ultimately, the goal of these six categories is to help you put some healthy boundaries in place to filter out the noise and factor in what matters.

It should probably be noted, these are internal terms. We don’t go to people and say, “Thanks for your input, but you’re on a voicemail level with this.” In a second, you’ll understand how that could be a little hurtful.

Before we unpack the levels, it’s helpful to know they exist within two different spaces. There are Non-change levels and change levels. The first three levels are NONCHANGE LEVELS. These have no bearing on the outcome of the situation. They can throw the biggest fit they want and nothing is going to flinch.

The last three are CHANGE LEVELS. When someone has this type of influence or input, things can (and sometimes must) change based on his or her input.

So here they are, the six levels of input and influence.

1. VAPOR

When someone has a VAPOR level of input, the project may as well not exist in their world. This person doesn’t need any details, and if they want to have input into the project, they don’t have a right to anything. This may be for confidentiality, efficiency, or even practicality.

When someone from another team asks me for details on something my overseer and I are working on, they’re not in a place where they need any involvement. They’re at the VAPOR level. I don’t share anything with them. “I’m sorry, but that’s not something I”m going to get into.”

2. VIEW

This is when someone can see behind the curtain, as it were, but don’t have any real input in the situation. When you’re heading to a meeting and you know you have the freedom to invite someone, you could bring someone into the meeting just so they see, but they don’t have the right to speak into the meeting.

Many times, our interns exist at a VIEW level. We want to expose them to the inner workings of our organization, but a lot of times it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to interject. They’re at a VIEW level, they know it, and they get the chance to soak up as much information as possible.

People with a VIEW level may feel the freedom to speak into something, but that’s not their role at this point. You want them informed, but you don’t need their input.

3. VOICEMAIL

The VOICEMAIL category is for someone who has been given a little bit of space to speak into something, but still not at a change level. Their input isn’t necessarily going to dictate the direction of something, but they do have the right to give input.

They are invited to “leave a message about this” for you to hear, think about, and decide whether or not to even reply. On my team, we lead hundreds and hundreds of families with teenagers. Many parents live in a VOICEMAIL category. it wouldn’t be right to ignore them, but they don’t have the understanding or perspective to have a formative or change level influence into decisions we make. They have my number, they are welcome to call with feedback, but it sits at a VOICEMAIL level.

Note: VOICEMAIL level does not mean they don’t have a right to speak to me. It’s just a helpful paradigm for thinking about how to filter their input.

4. VOICE

Now we are to CHANGE LEVELS. When someone has a VOICE in a situation or a project, they know they have the freedom to speak their mind and give feedback to a situation. They don’t get to determine the outcome, but you’ve decided that their input is helpful enough that you seek it out, and they are free to share it.

VOICE level of input is common on teams when the leader makes the final decision, but wants each team member to be able to be involved in forming the decision. Ultimately, the team leader is going to make the decision, but everyone on the team has a right to be heard.

5. VOTE

People with a VOTE level get to speak into the final decision. They may not be able to make a unilateral decision, but you’ve given these people enough influence in the decision that you are no longer the sole vote.

Task teams commonly have VOTE level inputs, where everyone involved has a right not only to speak into the decision but to be a part of making it.

In my situation, most of my hiring decisions are made with my overseer having a VOTE. He trusts me to make the right decision, and would never override my choices…but I have and will continue to give him a VOTE level of input because I value his discernment and his perspective of my hires. He doesn’t get the final say, but he has more weight than simply offering decisions.

6. VERDICT

The final call. A person with a VERDICT level of influence can make the decision and run with it. If you’re delegating responsibility, if you delegate at a VERDICT level, you’ve removed yourself from the decision making…that person can go do whatever they need to do. Obviously, as a boss, you can remove that level of freedom, but they don’t have to come to you with everything they want to do. They have VERDICT powers.

Earlier, we mentioned teams that have a VOICE in a decision, but the team leader is going to make the final decision. In that situation, the team has a VOICE and the leader has the VERDICT.

There are times your boss will come to you and tell you what you need to do in a situation. It’s usually pretty clear when it’s their call. You take your marching orders and run with them to the best of your ability.

On a personal level, my wife has a VERDICT influence on everything I do. When I’m asked to speak at a camp, she has a verdict level. We look at the calendar, pray, and evaluate the situation. If she doesn’t feel comfortable with me being gone for that week, I trust her intuition and discernment…and that trust is vital. When you give VERDICT freedom to people in your life (in or out of work), they need to be people either in charge of you, or people you implicitly trust. I fully trust my wife to have my best interest, and the best interest of my family, in her mind. As a result, I don’t have any issue with her having VERDICT influence in things like that.

SUMMARY

NON CHANGE LEVELS

Vapor View Voicemail

CHANGE LEVELS

4. Voice

5. Vote

6. Verdict

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