Pre-Approval is an essential element of giving your staff autonomy. For people to work effectively they need to know that they don’t need to constantly seek approval for anything they do.
Whether you’re implementing an increased autonomy approach or simply want to give new starters some guidance about what is expected of them, an easily adaptable framework is essential. Cocoa Amore’s approach is a simple ‘cheat sheet’:

“The, ‘Is It Us?’, and this is the first step of how we work out our Pre-Approval. We realised that, although we could create probably a phone book of items that were pre-approved or not pre-approved, it’d be much more effective to [create a] process for people to work through.
“So, [we created] a process and a framework, and if they were able to utilise those, they’d have a framework for autonomy. So, the idea is that if they work through each of these ‘Is It Us?’ Steps, then using our intent, our values and our themes, they would know if they were authorised or not by virtue of the process.”
If you would like to learn how to not just be a manager, but a leader, take a look at Happy’s Leadership and Management programmes. We are leading a movement to help people find joy in at least 80% of their work, by creating workplaces based on trust and working to strengths.
Our Level 7 Senior Leaders Apprenticeship Programme is designed for CEOs and senior leaders who want a cultural transformation of their workplace. You must be ready to apply the concepts you learn within your organisation – just like Alun has.
What you will learn in this video
- Some of Alun’s experience of the Level 7 Senior Leaders programme
- His approach to achieving Pre-Approval
- A brief discussion of non-hierarchical management in practice
Related resources
- How TypeFi is Creating a Happy Workplace with the Level 7 Programme — Jason Michell of TypeFi explains his experience of the Level 7 Programme and how it’s revolutionised how he manages his staff.
- Pre-Approval in Practice at TLC: Talk, Listen, Change — Michelle Hill of charity TLC: Talk, Listen, Change, explains how she has used Pre-Approval in practice in this two minute video.
- How You Can Create a Culture of Trust in Your Workplace by Using Pre-Approval — Henry Stewart, Happy’s Chief Happiness Officer, explains how you can create a workplace culture based on trust using Pre-Approval.
- Helen Taylor: Break Free From Bureaucracy with Pre-Approval — Helen Taylor explains how she has implemented a system where her staff are Pre-Approved to spend £100,000 at the London Borough of Hounslow.