Decision or Discussion
One of the simplest ways to get a fix on an organisation’s culture is to look at how it makes decisions.
One of the simplest ways to get a fix on an organisation’s culture is to look at how it makes decisions.
Businesses with a low approach to risk, hierarchical structures, and tight controls are poles apart from those who pass decisions to their teams and engage everyone in collective decision-making.
During my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work at the national government level sitting on national Boards, and with start-ups and small innovative global firms that are on the cusp of big growth.
Their approach to decisions couldn’t be further apart. Yet both come with significant pros and cons.
The challenge for leaders and Boards is often about knowing when to make a decision or when to engage and discuss more.
It’s a fine ambiguous line.
And what that line looks like for your Board and leadership team sets the tone for the leaders, managers and teams throughout the rest of your business.
The challenge is that a surprising number of organizations lack clarity about what decisions need to be made, who is responsible for making them, and how the decision-making process should unfold.
But if you can’t make the right decisions quickly and effectively, and execute those decisions consistently your business will suffer.
Finding consensus about who, when, how and what decisions need to be made doesn’t happen of its own accord. And it must align to the culture of your organisation, and be widely understood by all.
To help you focus on your decision-making technique, here are eight things to get your juices flowing.
54321: One of the most simple tools to help teams make decisions and talk the same language, comes courtesy of a teacher, Bill Ferriter who shared his department’s system for decision making. What could such simplicity do for your Board?
If you were to design a system for your leadership team, using this approach, what would it look like?
Wise Words: From the late renowned leadership thinker, Peter Drucker.
We’re all faced with decisions that on the surface are ‘no brainers’. Think about your leadership and board meetings.
What is a reasonable amount of debate and discussion that you tolerate?
Would all member’s views be the same?
Research: Analysis by Deloitte shows that good organizational decision-making depends on five core factors.
Read their research and areas to focus on by clicking the image above. Then take a moment to reflect on the five areas that Deloitte identifies that matter to great organizational decision-making.
How would you rank your current Board and leadership team on a scale of 1-5 on each of these areas?
What would your key stakeholders say if you asked them to do the same?
Where would you want it to be - and what would help you take one step closer to that?
Tool: McKinsey provides a neat ABCD tool to help leaders and businesses categorize decisions that they make based on the level of impact and scope.
Preferences: What motivates you individually as a leader will likely drive how you make decisions. Think about your natural leadership style. Are you driven by data, or are you driven by what will give you the quickest result? Perhaps you’re driven by a desire to care for and nurture your team and create a workplace where people are happy and can perform at their best.
Think about what drives you day to day?
What does this mean for the way you make decisions?
What blind spots are you missing?
Diversity: Research is starting to back up what has long been suspected; that companies with diverse teams lead to better business decisions, 87% of the time. It’s not hard to see why. If you’re a leadership team dominated by one gender, race and demographics - with the same backgrounds and the same frames of reference, it’s very likely you’ll share the same unconscious blind spots. Your decisions will be made through that single lense. But even teams with single-gender single lense can be dominated by one or two strong voices. Step back and think about your leadership team:
What demographics and voices dominate discussions and decisions?
What can you personally do to create more balance in this space?
What one action today would get you started?
Design: Organisational charts often don’t present the reality of decision-making structures that are in play day to day in business; in fact, they often lie to you. To design the decision-making roles in a way that best serves your business, read this piece below.
Listen: When it comes to decision-making, there can be a lot of ambiguity. Listen to this piece by Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis who argue for moving beyond tradeoffs and toward innovation.
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