# Levels of freedom: matching person and task > Four levels of freedom, set per person and per task from experience on that task, the cost of a mistake and the person's own view. - Course: [From Specialist to Manager: Your First Year Leading a Team](https://productovi.com/courses/from-specialist-to-manager.md) - Module: Delegation and the design of work - Lesson 10/32, ~26 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/from-specialist-to-manager/levels-of-freedom ## Freedom belongs to a task **Sofia:** Briefs are written. Now, how much freedom does each person get? I'd give Taras the most, he closes the most, and Dmytro and Sofiia the least. **Alex Tutor:** Half right. Freedom doesn't belong to a person; it belongs to a person on a task. Someone can be an expert on schedule changes and a beginner on refunds. **Alex Tutor:** Four **levels of freedom**: 1, gather the facts and I decide. 2, propose and I approve. 3, decide and tell me after. 4, it's yours, we review it monthly. **Alex Tutor:** It's the dial behind **autonomy at work**: how much say a person has over how, when and in what order they work. More autonomy tends to raise motivation and learning, but only with clear goals and the skill to use it. **Sofia:** So the wrong level hurts either way. **Alex Tutor:** Too low and an expert waits for approvals and stops thinking. Too high and a beginner guesses, and families pay for it. **Alex Tutor:** Check the core idea first. > **Exercise:** You're setting how much freedom each coordinator gets. Which principle should guide you? > **Exercise:** Match each situation with the level of freedom that fits it. ## What the data says **Dataset (CSV):** [Tickets by type and person, September 2026 – February 2027](https://productovi.com/datasets/from-specialist-to-manager/levels-of-freedom/klasna-ticket-type-experience.csv) Six months for the four core coordinators. Dmytro and Sofiia joined on 1 March and have no Klasna history. Solo rate = solved ÷ (solved + handed up); reopen rate = reopened ÷ solved. - `person`: Coordinator - `ticket_type`: schedule_change, payment_question, package_and_club, video_failure, refund_request, teams_invoice - `solved`: Tickets of this type the person solved - `handed_up`: Tickets of this type the person handed up - `reopened`: Solved tickets the family reopened **Alex Tutor:** A starting rule, per person and per type: at least 50 solved with under 5% reopened, level 3. At least 20 solved, level 2. Fewer, level 1. Level 4 never comes from a table alone. **Sofia:** Taras solved 900 schedule changes with 4% reopened. Level 3, easily. **Alex Tutor:** Now his refund requests. Look at how many he solved and how many he handed up. **Iryna:** And keep in mind that refunds are where money leaves the company. > **Exercise:** Using the dataset: what is Taras's **solo rate** on refund requests, solved ÷ (solved + handed up)? In %, two decimals. ## Surprises in the table **Alex Tutor:** 46.15%: he hands up more refunds than he solves, and a quarter of those he solves come back. Level 2 on refunds: he proposes, Olha approves. On schedule changes, level 3. Same person, two levels. **Alex Tutor:** Overall Taras starts at level 3 on one type of six. Olha on all six; she solves 59.15% of the team's refunds. Maryna on four, Bohdan on five. **Sofia:** Bohdan? He's the slowest to reply. **Alex Tutor:** And the team's video-failure expert: 160 solved, 98.77% without a hand-up, 1.88% reopened. Speed of first reply and depth on a task are different things. **Alex Tutor:** Check Bohdan's number yourself. > **Exercise:** Using the dataset: Bohdan solved 160 video-failure tickets and handed up 2. What is his **solo rate** on video failures, solved ÷ (solved + handed up)? In %, two decimals. > **Exercise:** Apply the starting rule (≥ 50 solved and < 5% reopened → level 3; ≥ 20 solved → level 2; fewer → level 1). Which starting levels are right? Select all that apply. ## Beyond the table **Alex Tutor:** The rule is a start, not a verdict. Two more inputs: the cost of a mistake, and the person's own view. Ask: "On refunds, how much support do you want right now?" **Sofia:** And Dmytro and Sofiia? Level 1 on everything? **Alex Tutor:** At first. Sofiia did a season of support at another online school, so on payment questions she may climb fast. Plan the climb: level 2 on routine types after week 2, if the reopens stay low. **Alex Tutor:** And say each level out loud, in writing. In a remote team nobody watches over a shoulder, and nobody should. The level written in the brief is what replaces guessing. **Alex Tutor:** What else, besides the table, sets the level? > **Exercise:** The data rule gives a starting level. Which of these should also shape the final level? Select all that apply. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** keeping Dmytro and Sofiia, the two seasonal coordinators who joined on 1 March, at level 1 on every ticket type for the whole spring peak is the safest choice. ## A stretch for Maryna **Alex Tutor:** Maryna on refunds: 40 solved, 45 handed up, 5.00% reopened. Level 2 by the rule. **Olha:** She's good at them. She just doesn't trust herself yet. Give her the proposals and I'll approve them for a month. **Sofia:** So level 2 on refunds is her stretch, not a demotion. **Alex Tutor:** If she wants it. Ask first, then write the step up into her brief: what level 3 would take, and when you'll look again. > **Exercise:** Maryna: refunds 40 solved, 45 handed up, 5.00% reopened. Olha offers to approve her proposals for a month. What's the best next step? ## Your turn: telling Taras **Alex Tutor:** Taras will see that Olha and Bohdan have more level-3 types than he does. That conversation needs care after February. **Sofia:** He'll take it as punishment for the reopens. **Alex Tutor:** So make it about tasks, not about him: where he decides alone, where he proposes, and exactly what moves refunds to level 3. **Olha:** Tell him I'd rather approve his refunds than redo them. That's a compliment, from me. > **Exercise:** Write what you'll tell Taras about his levels of freedom, in 3–5 sentences: **level 3 on schedule changes, level 2 on refund requests**. Say what each level means in practice, why (from the data, without ranking him against colleagues), and what would move refunds to level 3. > **Key ideas** > > - Freedom belongs to a person **on a task**. Four **levels of freedom**: gather the facts and I decide; propose and I approve; decide and tell me after; yours, reviewed monthly. > - **Autonomy at work** raises motivation and learning only with clear goals and the skill to use it. Too low wastes experts; too high leaves beginners guessing. > - Start from experience on that task: at least 50 solved with under 5% reopened, level 3; at least 20, level 2; fewer, level 1. Taras: level 3 on schedule changes, level 2 on refunds (46.15% solo, 25% reopened). > - Adjust for the cost of a mistake and the person's own view. Bohdan, slowest to reply, is the video-failure expert (160 solved, 98.77% solo, 1.88% reopened). > - Write each level into the brief, plan the step up (new hires climb after week 2), and make it about tasks, not the person. **Alex Tutor:** Next: designing work people grow in, not just work that gets done. - Previous lesson: [The delegation brief](https://productovi.com/courses/from-specialist-to-manager/the-delegation-brief.md) - Next lesson: [Work people grow in](https://productovi.com/courses/from-specialist-to-manager/work-people-grow-in.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.