- Figure: Get work approved and spend less time putting out fires
The solution is to get permission for the work you do before you do it. Get permission verbally, confirmed in writing by email or with a signature (although that's sometimes a whole lot harder).
Always get permission for:
Having said that you need to manage two potential probems with seeking permission on work before acting:
- Increased dead time while waiting for approval
- Discouraging initiative to fix problems fast
These problems are naturally solved through the continual refinement of what can and can't be done without approval. Different clients will have different standards depending on the type of project. From a time perspective the rule of thumb is never spend more than one hour without approval.
This rule is not generally applicable if you are working on an ad hoc basis on a client managed project OR if the task is an obvious task which you would reasonably assume the client would approve and is not likely to take more than half an hour.