Manage the conversation. If you’re trying to make a decision between A and B, and it’s suddenly going off on a tangent and other things are being introduced, that conversation isn’t being guided very well because you’re not focused on the decision at hand. Make sure information is presented clearly.
Probably two thirds of the time I already know before I go into a meeting what the outcome will be. Perhaps I’ll even talk to a few people to make sure that they are on board with that. There are also times where you think you know what it’s going to be and you get surprised by some of the discussion that happens and change your mind. With a decision that is going to be contentious, you don’t want to have the people who are going to have strong opinions about it be surprised by the conversation in front of the group of people.
If somebody is particularly difficult about a certain issue, have a conversation with them afterward and try to make it so they’ll try to choose their fights a little more judiciously. Help them realize that being too vocal can make it difficult for the team.
Likewise, if there is somebody who has got an opinion that they’re not going to feel comfortable expressing before the group, make sure to get that in advance. I’ll make sure that I express it or that somebody else is there to vocalize their opinion.
Gather input. We are inherently trying to find solutions to problems where there isn’t an existing solution.
It actually makes the decisions a lot more difficult because you’re always asking yourself, ‘So why has nobody else gone down the direction that I’m contemplating? Or if they did, why did they fail, and how can I make sure we won’t?’
I need to get the right voices and have the right people around me to provide the criticism when I need it and also the support when needed to make something happen.
I make sure I get feedback from as many people as possible. If somebody has an idea that affects the decision, I want to make sure that idea gets heard and incorporated. It also ensures, once a decision has been made, hopefully people are on board with it and it’s viewed as a consensus decision that’s right for the team. In contrast, if I just made a declaration by fiat, then it would be something where people might not be on board with it.
Keep the peace. You have to have people that have seen, over a long time, that when a decision is going to be made, it’s going to be the right decision for the group and not individuals fighting for themselves. Once you have that sort of culture, the biggest challenge is to make sure there’s not going to be some lone voice that will try to pull the team off in a direction where nobody wants to go.
It means knowing who are going to be the people that are going to need to be bought in and perhaps talking to them first. That’s my job to make sure the discussion and debate doesn’t break down.
Part of it is making the process less threatening. For example, if somebody makes a mistake and they get humiliated and fired, that’s going to result in a different culture than a situation where somebody makes a mistake and then people work together and fix it.
It means making sure that if past decisions didn’t work out well, that there was an appropriate conversation that was had. A leader that doesn’t get their hands dirty and understand what’s going on will have a hard time leading that kind of discussion.
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