Building decision checkpoints into high pressure periods
Use a small number of explicit checkpoints to prevent peak demand from silently removing important approval safeguards.
The performance question
A product launch or transaction creates pressure to keep everything moving. A checkpoint is useful only when it tests a real failure mode, such as committing funds without agreed scope. Additional signatures that nobody understands can simply increase the queue.
What the evidence supports
HSE recommends assessing workload in emergencies as well as normal operations and reconsidering it during unusual activities. This supports planning controls for a peak period. It does not prescribe a particular corporate approval checklist.[1]
A practical approach
Identify three decisions whose reversal would be costly during the peak. For each, agree the minimum evidence, named owner, independent challenge and stop condition. Put the checkpoint before the commitment becomes irreversible. Specify an urgent exception route and document why it was used, including who must review it afterwards.
How to review progress
At the end of the period, examine missed checkpoints, exception use and time added by the control. Retain checks that caught a meaningful issue. Remove duplication only after confirming the underlying risk is still covered by another reliable control.
Sources and references
- Human factors: Workload Opens in a new tab
Health and Safety Executive
Processing limits, task analysis, workload drift and staffing