Paying careful attention to these characteristics throughout the decision-making process can be difficult and time-consuming.
Research suggests decisions that include these five process characteristics have sharply improved the odds of being successful:
Multiple Alternatives. Generally, successful decisions result from a review of many alternative solutions. As your process unfolds, make sure that your group considers several alternatives before making its decision. The point-counterpoint approach is a useful method to ensure that at least two alternatives are considered. Remember, a go/no-go choice involves only one alternative.
Open Debate. To generate creative alternatives, you need to facilitate open, constructive debate. Strive to create an environment that supports inquiry-based discussions. Ask open ended and hypothetical questions to encourage your group to explore a variety of possibilities. Listen attentively to your team’s suggestions, and emphasize positive group dynamics. Debate should be task related, not emotional or personal. Make adjustments to your approach if the group is not working well together. Silence and suppressed arguments are both signs that the debate is not sufficiently robust.
Assumption testing. It is unlikely that you will have complete information at the time you make assumptions as it proceeds. Make sure that your team recognizes when it is relying on facts and when it is making assumptions. Further, the team needs to recognize which of those assumptions are closely tied to confirmed data, and which are not. The group may still choose to use untested assumptions in its decision-making process, but should reconsider the plausibility of these assumptions throughout the process.
Well-defined objectives. Continually review your objectives during your meetings to ensure that your discussions stay on target. If conditions change, you may need to refine your objectives or even your definition of the problem to meet the new conditions. However, don’t let your objectives shift solely because of time pressure or a rush to reach agreement.
Perceived fairness. Keeping people involved throughout the process is critical to the success of your decision. Your team members must feel that their ideas are being considered during the process in order to feel a sense of ownership over the final decision. Periodically evaluate the level of participation of your team members, such as after a milestone. If people have stopped participating in conversation or are doing so reluctantly, they may be dissatisfied with the process. Your job is to keep people engaged by acknowledging your team member’s suggestions and helping them understand why another alternative may be a better decision.
ACTION POINT: Paying careful attention to these characteristics throughout the decision-making process can be difficult and time-consuming. Making the effort to include them, however, gives your decision a much better chance of success.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Assessing Your Decision-Making Process
Have a plan for evaluating the various elements in your process, from gathering your decision-making team to implementing the actual decision.
Many managers wait to evaluate a decision until the end of the process, after it has been implemented. This is too late. If there is a flaw in the decision itself or in its implementation, you may learn a useful lesson about how not to make or implement a decision, but it will be too late to repair the damage.
Assessing the decision-making process is an ongoing effort that must occur in real time, throughout all the phases of the process. For example, you need to monitor the tone of your meetings and address problems in group dynamics before they interfere with our goal. Sometimes new information becomes available or new conditions arise, necessitating a midcourse correction in your objectives.
Have a plan for evaluating the various elements in your process, from gathering your decision-making team to implementing the actual decision. It could be something as simple as a checklist. Take the time after each meeting to think about how it went. In addition, understand the distinguishing characteristics of effective decision making.
ACTION POINT: Don’t wait till the end of your decision-making process to assess it’s effectiveness.
Many managers wait to evaluate a decision until the end of the process, after it has been implemented. This is too late. If there is a flaw in the decision itself or in its implementation, you may learn a useful lesson about how not to make or implement a decision, but it will be too late to repair the damage.
Assessing the decision-making process is an ongoing effort that must occur in real time, throughout all the phases of the process. For example, you need to monitor the tone of your meetings and address problems in group dynamics before they interfere with our goal. Sometimes new information becomes available or new conditions arise, necessitating a midcourse correction in your objectives.
Have a plan for evaluating the various elements in your process, from gathering your decision-making team to implementing the actual decision. It could be something as simple as a checklist. Take the time after each meeting to think about how it went. In addition, understand the distinguishing characteristics of effective decision making.
ACTION POINT: Don’t wait till the end of your decision-making process to assess it’s effectiveness.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Making Needed Adjustments
What if the decision you’ve implemented ultimately doesn’t work out as you’d expected?
Most implementation plans require some adjustment. If nothing else, conditions change over time. So occasional adjustments, ranging from fine-tuning to wholesale changes, are often needed.
What if the decision you’ve implemented ultimately doesn’t work out as you’d expected? In most cases, corrections can be made. These will often involve only “tweaking” the decision you’ve implemented. But sometimes you may find that the alternative you chose just isn’t working. In such cases, you need to revisit the decision-making process.
Make sure you framed the issue correctly. Have you learned anything new that makes you think the problem is different from what you thought the first time around?
Has there been a change in your objectives? Do you have new information that you didn’t have before? Perhaps you see that one objective should have been given more weight and another one less.
Have you learned about an alternative that wasn’t considered the first time around? Or have you acquired a different perspective that causes you reassess data you’ve had for some time?
Go through your decision-making process again, preferably without reviewing your earlier results. With experience in implementing one alternative, chances are good you’ll change your opinion of how well some of the other alternatives satisfy your objectives.
After you’ve evaluated how well each alternative would be expected to address each objective, return to the results of your first evaluation. Where you find discrepancies between the first time and this time, decide which one is more on target in light of what you know now.
ACTION POINT: Revisit your decision making process when adjustments are needed during implementation.
Most implementation plans require some adjustment. If nothing else, conditions change over time. So occasional adjustments, ranging from fine-tuning to wholesale changes, are often needed.
What if the decision you’ve implemented ultimately doesn’t work out as you’d expected? In most cases, corrections can be made. These will often involve only “tweaking” the decision you’ve implemented. But sometimes you may find that the alternative you chose just isn’t working. In such cases, you need to revisit the decision-making process.
Make sure you framed the issue correctly. Have you learned anything new that makes you think the problem is different from what you thought the first time around?
Has there been a change in your objectives? Do you have new information that you didn’t have before? Perhaps you see that one objective should have been given more weight and another one less.
Have you learned about an alternative that wasn’t considered the first time around? Or have you acquired a different perspective that causes you reassess data you’ve had for some time?
Go through your decision-making process again, preferably without reviewing your earlier results. With experience in implementing one alternative, chances are good you’ll change your opinion of how well some of the other alternatives satisfy your objectives.
After you’ve evaluated how well each alternative would be expected to address each objective, return to the results of your first evaluation. Where you find discrepancies between the first time and this time, decide which one is more on target in light of what you know now.
ACTION POINT: Revisit your decision making process when adjustments are needed during implementation.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monitoring and Following Up
As implement your decision, keep track of how things are going.
The following practices can help:
Clarify expectations and acknowledge incentives. For example, if an account executive is going to start managing the company’s largest client, explain what this client means to the organization and your expectations for managing the relationship. Determine whether the increase in responsibility should result in a pay increase or change in title, and follow up with your human resource department to make that happen.
Provide feedback on the implementation. Give your employees feedback on the progress of the implementation plan. You input should be constructive and focused on accountability and execution. Set a time for daily or weekly status meetings. This will help you stay informed of your group’s progress during implementation.
Take a look for yourself. Check in with people informally. Ask them how the project is going and whether they have any concerns about it. Be interested in not only issues related to implementation, such as schedule and budget, but also whether your employees believe that the project is effectively addressing the problem it is intended to solve.
Recognize people’s contributions. Implementation often goes unnoticed unless it fails. If things are going well, recognize individual contributions and celebrate successes.
ACTION POINT: Keeping abreast of progress during implementation will enable you to fix problems before they become major crises.
The following practices can help:
Clarify expectations and acknowledge incentives. For example, if an account executive is going to start managing the company’s largest client, explain what this client means to the organization and your expectations for managing the relationship. Determine whether the increase in responsibility should result in a pay increase or change in title, and follow up with your human resource department to make that happen.
Provide feedback on the implementation. Give your employees feedback on the progress of the implementation plan. You input should be constructive and focused on accountability and execution. Set a time for daily or weekly status meetings. This will help you stay informed of your group’s progress during implementation.
Take a look for yourself. Check in with people informally. Ask them how the project is going and whether they have any concerns about it. Be interested in not only issues related to implementation, such as schedule and budget, but also whether your employees believe that the project is effectively addressing the problem it is intended to solve.
Recognize people’s contributions. Implementation often goes unnoticed unless it fails. If things are going well, recognize individual contributions and celebrate successes.
ACTION POINT: Keeping abreast of progress during implementation will enable you to fix problems before they become major crises.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Implementing the Decision
Ideally, your team members will leave the final meeting knowing exactly what they’re expected to do.
Your group has made a choice, and you’ve communicated the decision to the appropriate people. Now its time to identify the tasks that will be required to put the decision into action, assign resources, and establish deadlines. Ideally, your team members will leave the final meeting knowing exactly what they’re expected to do. If not, reconvene the group to identify who will be responsible for each task.
You probably have much of the information you need to develop the plan for implementing your group’s decision. When you were evaluating alternatives, you likely considered the cost, the number of people required to work on the project, and so forth.
For example, suppose you and your group have determined that the customer complaints about your telephone support lien are due to inadequate training of the support associates talking calls. After analyzing the situation, you may decide that the associates need to have more product knowledge. As part of evaluating this alternative, you probably would have identified the resource requirements from the training department to implement your solution.
ACTION POINT: But be sure to assign reasonable tasks with sufficient resources. For example the people in the training department may not have extensive product knowledge and may need the help of a content expert. You might need to assign an expert in product knowledge to work with the training department to develop a program.
Your group has made a choice, and you’ve communicated the decision to the appropriate people. Now its time to identify the tasks that will be required to put the decision into action, assign resources, and establish deadlines. Ideally, your team members will leave the final meeting knowing exactly what they’re expected to do. If not, reconvene the group to identify who will be responsible for each task.
You probably have much of the information you need to develop the plan for implementing your group’s decision. When you were evaluating alternatives, you likely considered the cost, the number of people required to work on the project, and so forth.
For example, suppose you and your group have determined that the customer complaints about your telephone support lien are due to inadequate training of the support associates talking calls. After analyzing the situation, you may decide that the associates need to have more product knowledge. As part of evaluating this alternative, you probably would have identified the resource requirements from the training department to implement your solution.
ACTION POINT: But be sure to assign reasonable tasks with sufficient resources. For example the people in the training department may not have extensive product knowledge and may need the help of a content expert. You might need to assign an expert in product knowledge to work with the training department to develop a program.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Including the right content in your message
Your messages about the decision should include the following components:
Statement of the issue that needed to be addressed
Description of the objectives or decision-making criteria
The names and roles of the people involved in making the decision and why they were included in the process
The alternatives considered (and possibly a summary of the evaluation in table form)
An explanation of the final decision and what it means for the key stakeholders
The implementation plan and time frame
Recognition of those who participated
Solicitation of feedback
Incomplete or poorly articulated messages about your group’s decision can lead to confusion, disappointment, and unwillingness to support its implementation on the part of everyone who hears or reads your messages
ACTION POINT: Be sure to take the time to create a clear, concise message.
Statement of the issue that needed to be addressed
Description of the objectives or decision-making criteria
The names and roles of the people involved in making the decision and why they were included in the process
The alternatives considered (and possibly a summary of the evaluation in table form)
An explanation of the final decision and what it means for the key stakeholders
The implementation plan and time frame
Recognition of those who participated
Solicitation of feedback
Incomplete or poorly articulated messages about your group’s decision can lead to confusion, disappointment, and unwillingness to support its implementation on the part of everyone who hears or reads your messages
ACTION POINT: Be sure to take the time to create a clear, concise message.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Communicating the Decision
To communicate a decision effectively, you need to take the right approach and make sure you include all the right information in your messages about the decision.
Many managers overlook one of the most important steps in the decision-making process: communicating the decision to everyone who was involved in it and who will be affected by it. To communicate a decision effectively, you need to take the right approach and make sure you include all the right information in your messages about the decision.
Once your group has made a final choice, some members will have to give up their preferred solution. The fairness of the decision-making process as perceived by the participants and others will determine their willingness to support the final outcome. In communicating the decision and getting buy-in for its implementation, keep in mind the following principles:
Consideration and voice. Participants who are encouraged to question and debate each other’s ideas are more likely to believe that the leader listened to their viewpoints and gave them serious consideration. This is especially true if you, the leader, have demonstrated attentiveness through your actions—for example, by taking notes and playing back or paraphrasing what was said to show that you were actively listening. Even if some participant’s viewpoints did not prevail, knowing that you took them seriously will end credibility to the process.
Explanation. You need to explain the thinking behind the final decision. It’s important to be clear about why you and your group made this choice, as opposed to a different one. Explaining the reasons for the decision builds trust in your intentions and confidence that the final choice was made for the benefit of the company as a whole.
Expectation. Once the decision has been made, everyone affected by the decision needs to understand the new rules of the game. Spell out new responsibilities as well as performance measures and penalties for failure to follow the decision. When people clearly understand what’s expected of them after a decision has been made, they can focus on what they need to do to support the decision.
The people you notify will include everyone who is responsible for implementing the decision as well as anyone who will be affected by it. Your list might also include other key stakeholders: members of your unit who were not part of the decision-making groups, senior management, department supervisors, external constituents, and even customers if they will see a change in the way your company does business with them as a result of the decision.
ACTION POINT: Communicate clearly using consideration and voice, explanation and expectation to all who are responsible for a decision and all who are affected by the decision.
Many managers overlook one of the most important steps in the decision-making process: communicating the decision to everyone who was involved in it and who will be affected by it. To communicate a decision effectively, you need to take the right approach and make sure you include all the right information in your messages about the decision.
Once your group has made a final choice, some members will have to give up their preferred solution. The fairness of the decision-making process as perceived by the participants and others will determine their willingness to support the final outcome. In communicating the decision and getting buy-in for its implementation, keep in mind the following principles:
Consideration and voice. Participants who are encouraged to question and debate each other’s ideas are more likely to believe that the leader listened to their viewpoints and gave them serious consideration. This is especially true if you, the leader, have demonstrated attentiveness through your actions—for example, by taking notes and playing back or paraphrasing what was said to show that you were actively listening. Even if some participant’s viewpoints did not prevail, knowing that you took them seriously will end credibility to the process.
Explanation. You need to explain the thinking behind the final decision. It’s important to be clear about why you and your group made this choice, as opposed to a different one. Explaining the reasons for the decision builds trust in your intentions and confidence that the final choice was made for the benefit of the company as a whole.
Expectation. Once the decision has been made, everyone affected by the decision needs to understand the new rules of the game. Spell out new responsibilities as well as performance measures and penalties for failure to follow the decision. When people clearly understand what’s expected of them after a decision has been made, they can focus on what they need to do to support the decision.
The people you notify will include everyone who is responsible for implementing the decision as well as anyone who will be affected by it. Your list might also include other key stakeholders: members of your unit who were not part of the decision-making groups, senior management, department supervisors, external constituents, and even customers if they will see a change in the way your company does business with them as a result of the decision.
ACTION POINT: Communicate clearly using consideration and voice, explanation and expectation to all who are responsible for a decision and all who are affected by the decision.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Don' Complain, Just Work Harder
Complaining does not work as a strategy
I've known some terrific non-complainers in my life. One was Sandy Blatt, my landlord during graduate school. When he was a young man, a truck backed into him while he was unloading boxes into the cellar of a building. He toppled backwards down the steps and into the cellar. "How far was the fall?" I asked. his answer was simple: "Far enough." He spent the rest of his life as a quadriplegic.
Sandy had been a phenomenal athlete, and at the time of the accident, he was engaged to be married. He didn't want to be a burden to his fiancee so he told her, "you didn't sign up for this. I'll understand if you want to back out. You can go in peace." And she did.
I met Sandy when he was in his thirties, and he just wowed me with his attitude. He had this incredible non-whining aura about him. He had worked hard and become a licensed marriage counselor. He got married and adopted children. And when he talked about his medical issues, he did so matter-of-factly. He once explained to me that temperature changes were hard on quadriplegics because they can't shiver. "Pass me that blanket, will you, Randy?" he'd say. And that was it.
My favorite non-complainer of all time may be Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play Major league Baseball. He endured racism that many young people today couldn't even fathom. He knew he had to play better than the white guys, and he knew he had to work harder. So that's what he did. He vowed not to complain, even if fans spit on him.
I used to have a photo of Jackie Robinson hanging in my office and it saddened me that so many students couldn't identify him, or knew little about him. Many never even noticed the photo. Young people raised on color TV don't spend a lot of time looking at black-and-white images.
That's too bad. There are not better role models than people like Jackie Robinson and Sandy Blatt. The message in their stories is this: Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy.
ACTION POINT: Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve out goals. And it won't make us happier.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Ending the Deliberations
…it is your job as a manager to bring the discussion to closure.
Knowing when to end deliberations can be difficult. If a group makes a decision too early, it might not explore enough possibilities. If you sense that your group is rushing to make a decision, consider adjourning a meeting before making a final choice, and reconvening at a later time. Ask each participant to try to find a flaw with the decision to present at the next meeting.
The flip side of deciding too early is deciding to late, which is equally problematic. If the group takes to long to make a decision, it may waste valuable time and possibly even miss the opportunity to solve the problem at hand. If your team insists on hearing every viewpoint and resolving every question before reaching a conclusion, the result is the same: your discussions will become a tiring, endless loop. If you find your group is stuck going around in circles, it is your job as a manager to bring the discussion to closure. You may need to simply “force the issue” by establishing a deadline for a decision, urging your group to use the best information available within that time frame.
ACTION POINT: Making good decisions requires a time for deliberations to end and then making the decision.
Knowing when to end deliberations can be difficult. If a group makes a decision too early, it might not explore enough possibilities. If you sense that your group is rushing to make a decision, consider adjourning a meeting before making a final choice, and reconvening at a later time. Ask each participant to try to find a flaw with the decision to present at the next meeting.
The flip side of deciding too early is deciding to late, which is equally problematic. If the group takes to long to make a decision, it may waste valuable time and possibly even miss the opportunity to solve the problem at hand. If your team insists on hearing every viewpoint and resolving every question before reaching a conclusion, the result is the same: your discussions will become a tiring, endless loop. If you find your group is stuck going around in circles, it is your job as a manager to bring the discussion to closure. You may need to simply “force the issue” by establishing a deadline for a decision, urging your group to use the best information available within that time frame.
ACTION POINT: Making good decisions requires a time for deliberations to end and then making the decision.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Making the Decision
Here are some additional suggestions for resolving disagreements and moving your group toward closure:
Another method to aid in making the decision is using the Intellectual watchdog. Divide your team into two groups of equal size. Group A develops a proposal for a solution that includes their recommendations and key assumptions. They then present their proposal to group B. Instead of having group B generate an alternative plan of action, ask group B to critique the proposal and present its analysis to group A. Ask group A to revise the proposal on the basis of group B’s feedback and present it again. The two groups continue to critique and revise the proposal until they agree on a set of recommendations.
For example, a manufacturer of office furniture needs to improve the quality of its products. The first group assumes that the problem with quality is due to outdated manufacturing equipment, and recommends invest in better equipment. The second group questions this assumption, critiques the proposal, and presents its analysis to the first group. The first group revises its proposal. The two groups work together in the revision-critique-revision cycle until they arrive at a solution that both groups think will improve their product’s quality.
Here are some additional suggestions for resolving disagreements and moving your group toward closure:
Revisit and retest the assumptions about the issue at hand.
Go back to the original decision-making objectives and ensure that they are sill appropriate.
Set a deadline for coming to closure—for example, “By next Tuesday, we will make our decision, no matter how much uncertainty remains.”
Agree that if disagreements remain unresolved, the final choice will be made by a particular rule, such as majority voting, group consensus, or a decision by the senior-most member of the group.
ACTION POINT: Consider the above suggestions when moving decisions toward closure.
Another method to aid in making the decision is using the Intellectual watchdog. Divide your team into two groups of equal size. Group A develops a proposal for a solution that includes their recommendations and key assumptions. They then present their proposal to group B. Instead of having group B generate an alternative plan of action, ask group B to critique the proposal and present its analysis to group A. Ask group A to revise the proposal on the basis of group B’s feedback and present it again. The two groups continue to critique and revise the proposal until they agree on a set of recommendations.
For example, a manufacturer of office furniture needs to improve the quality of its products. The first group assumes that the problem with quality is due to outdated manufacturing equipment, and recommends invest in better equipment. The second group questions this assumption, critiques the proposal, and presents its analysis to the first group. The first group revises its proposal. The two groups work together in the revision-critique-revision cycle until they arrive at a solution that both groups think will improve their product’s quality.
Here are some additional suggestions for resolving disagreements and moving your group toward closure:
Revisit and retest the assumptions about the issue at hand.
Go back to the original decision-making objectives and ensure that they are sill appropriate.
Set a deadline for coming to closure—for example, “By next Tuesday, we will make our decision, no matter how much uncertainty remains.”
Agree that if disagreements remain unresolved, the final choice will be made by a particular rule, such as majority voting, group consensus, or a decision by the senior-most member of the group.
ACTION POINT: Consider the above suggestions when moving decisions toward closure.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Making the Decision
Often, however, you need to make complex decisions quickly, with only partial information.
In a perfect world, you would have all of the information you need and an unlimited amount of time to make a decision. Your choices would be clear, and company politics would not influence your decision. Often, however, you need to make complex decisions quickly, with only partial information. The techniques for evaluating the alternatives outlined in the previous section should help you compare the pros and cons of each choice but what if your group is still having difficulty arriving at a final decision—and the clock is ticking? The following suggestions can help:
Moving toward closure by using Point-counterpoint. Divide your team into two groups of equal size: group A and group B. Wherever possible, spread supporters of opposing ideas between the groups. Ask group A to develop a proposal for a solution that includes their recommendations and key assumptions. Then have them present their proposal to group B. Then ask group B to identify one or more alternative plans of action and present those plans to group A. have both groups debate the different proposals until they all agree on a set of recommendations.
For example a finance department has been engaged in a heated debate over which accounting firm to use to audit the books this year. One group favors, a big-name brand, while the other favors a smaller yet well-respected firm. Using the point-counterpoint technique, the decision-making team considers each firm and reaches a conclusion.
ACTION POINT: Consider the point-counterpoint technique when faced with a stalled decision.
In a perfect world, you would have all of the information you need and an unlimited amount of time to make a decision. Your choices would be clear, and company politics would not influence your decision. Often, however, you need to make complex decisions quickly, with only partial information. The techniques for evaluating the alternatives outlined in the previous section should help you compare the pros and cons of each choice but what if your group is still having difficulty arriving at a final decision—and the clock is ticking? The following suggestions can help:
Moving toward closure by using Point-counterpoint. Divide your team into two groups of equal size: group A and group B. Wherever possible, spread supporters of opposing ideas between the groups. Ask group A to develop a proposal for a solution that includes their recommendations and key assumptions. Then have them present their proposal to group B. Then ask group B to identify one or more alternative plans of action and present those plans to group A. have both groups debate the different proposals until they all agree on a set of recommendations.
For example a finance department has been engaged in a heated debate over which accounting firm to use to audit the books this year. One group favors, a big-name brand, while the other favors a smaller yet well-respected firm. Using the point-counterpoint technique, the decision-making team considers each firm and reaches a conclusion.
ACTION POINT: Consider the point-counterpoint technique when faced with a stalled decision.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Evaluating Alternatives
Your group can weigh a range of variables...
Once your group has generated alternatives to consider, it’s time to evaluate those alternatives and select one as the final decision. How to pick the best solution? Your group can weigh a range of variables as well as use one or more systematic methods for reaching a decision: the prioritization matrix, the trade-off technique, or the decision tree.
To evaluate the alternatives your group has generated, members can take stock of how well each alternative meets the objectives you established at the outset of the decision-making process.
Variable Questions to ask
Costs:
How much will this alternative cost?
Will it result in a cost savings now or over the long term?
Are there any hidden costs?
Are there likely to be additional costs down the road?
Does this alternative meet budget constraints?
Benefits:
What kind of profits will we realize with this alternative?
Will in increase the quality of the product?
Will customer satisfaction increase?
Intangibles:
Will our reputation improve if we implement this?
Will our customers and/or our employees be more loyal?
Time:
How long will it take to implement this alternative?
Could there be delays? What impact will they have?
Feasibility:
Can this alternative be implemented realistically?
Are there any obstacles that must be overcome?
Resources:
How many people are needed to implement this alternative?
Are they available?
What other projects will suffer if individuals focus on this option?
Risks:
What are the risks associated with this alternative?
Could this option result in loss of profits or competitive advantage?
How will competitors respond?
Ethics:
Is this alternative legal?
Is it in the bet interests of the customer, the employees and the
community where we operate?
Would I feel comfortable if other people knew about this alternative?
ACTION POINT: Evaluate alternatives by asking the questions above.
Once your group has generated alternatives to consider, it’s time to evaluate those alternatives and select one as the final decision. How to pick the best solution? Your group can weigh a range of variables as well as use one or more systematic methods for reaching a decision: the prioritization matrix, the trade-off technique, or the decision tree.
To evaluate the alternatives your group has generated, members can take stock of how well each alternative meets the objectives you established at the outset of the decision-making process.
Variable Questions to ask
Costs:
How much will this alternative cost?
Will it result in a cost savings now or over the long term?
Are there any hidden costs?
Are there likely to be additional costs down the road?
Does this alternative meet budget constraints?
Benefits:
What kind of profits will we realize with this alternative?
Will in increase the quality of the product?
Will customer satisfaction increase?
Intangibles:
Will our reputation improve if we implement this?
Will our customers and/or our employees be more loyal?
Time:
How long will it take to implement this alternative?
Could there be delays? What impact will they have?
Feasibility:
Can this alternative be implemented realistically?
Are there any obstacles that must be overcome?
Resources:
How many people are needed to implement this alternative?
Are they available?
What other projects will suffer if individuals focus on this option?
Risks:
What are the risks associated with this alternative?
Could this option result in loss of profits or competitive advantage?
How will competitors respond?
Ethics:
Is this alternative legal?
Is it in the bet interests of the customer, the employees and the
community where we operate?
Would I feel comfortable if other people knew about this alternative?
ACTION POINT: Evaluate alternatives by asking the questions above.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Generating Alternatives
This sense of fairness is critical for ensuring cooperation…
Throughout the decision-making process, it is essential that your team members feel that the process is fair. Specifically, they must believe that their ideas were acknowledged and considered, even if their suggestions were not ultimately adopted. This sense of fairness is critical for ensuring cooperation and buy-in when it comes time to implement the group’s decision.
Alternatives provide the choices you will need to make an informed decision. When you encourage team participation, facilitate creative conflict, and listen to ideas, you are likely to generate a full slate of options that will serve you well as you enter the next step in the decision-making process: evaluating the alternatives your group has generated.
ACTION POINT: Promote fair process when using a group to generate alternatives in the decision-making process.
Throughout the decision-making process, it is essential that your team members feel that the process is fair. Specifically, they must believe that their ideas were acknowledged and considered, even if their suggestions were not ultimately adopted. This sense of fairness is critical for ensuring cooperation and buy-in when it comes time to implement the group’s decision.
Alternatives provide the choices you will need to make an informed decision. When you encourage team participation, facilitate creative conflict, and listen to ideas, you are likely to generate a full slate of options that will serve you well as you enter the next step in the decision-making process: evaluating the alternatives your group has generated.
ACTION POINT: Promote fair process when using a group to generate alternatives in the decision-making process.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Generating Alternatives
Creative conflict is essential to the generation of alternatives, but it should never be personal or divisive.
Energize your team so that they will work hard to identify creative solutions. Creative conflict is essential to the generation of alternatives, but it should never be personal or divisive. Promote team participation during your brainstorming sessions by employing the following tactics:
Encourage open, candid dialogue by making it clear tat the outset that the final outcome is not predetermined and that everyone’s input will be valued.
Suggest that people try to think outside of their individual or departmental roles. They should focus on what’s best for the group, using all of the available information.
Provide closure at the end of every meeting by assigning tasks and deadlines so people are accountable for moving the process forward.
Recognize and thank people who share their ideas and viewpoints in a positive manner—especially those who are wiling to take the risk of challenging you.
Ask team members to play devil’s advocate by researching and making a case against the preferred proposal. Ask them to explain in detail why the preferred option should not be adopted.
ACTION POINT: Create an open atmosphere for the exchange of ideas.
Energize your team so that they will work hard to identify creative solutions. Creative conflict is essential to the generation of alternatives, but it should never be personal or divisive. Promote team participation during your brainstorming sessions by employing the following tactics:
Encourage open, candid dialogue by making it clear tat the outset that the final outcome is not predetermined and that everyone’s input will be valued.
Suggest that people try to think outside of their individual or departmental roles. They should focus on what’s best for the group, using all of the available information.
Provide closure at the end of every meeting by assigning tasks and deadlines so people are accountable for moving the process forward.
Recognize and thank people who share their ideas and viewpoints in a positive manner—especially those who are wiling to take the risk of challenging you.
Ask team members to play devil’s advocate by researching and making a case against the preferred proposal. Ask them to explain in detail why the preferred option should not be adopted.
ACTION POINT: Create an open atmosphere for the exchange of ideas.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Generating Alternatives
…focus on identifying as many alternatives as possible
Brainstorming is an effective way to generate different ideas and courses of action. Start with a blank flip chart page. At the start of the meeting, ask your team members to suggest any ideas that come into their heads. Or ask individuals to take a few minutes to develop their own lists of ideas to share publicly.
Either way, record the ideas but don’t discuss their merits at this point. Be especially careful not to allow criticism in the early stages. Instead, focus on identifying as many alternatives as possible. You can evaluate the ideas after you have a list of possibilities.
Before brainstorming, write the problem, issue, or question the group will brainstorm on a chalkboard or flip chart, where everyone can see it throughout the session. Get agreement that from everyone that the issue is stated correctly and precisely.
ACTION POINT: Use brainstorming to generate alternative solutions for specific issues.
Brainstorming is an effective way to generate different ideas and courses of action. Start with a blank flip chart page. At the start of the meeting, ask your team members to suggest any ideas that come into their heads. Or ask individuals to take a few minutes to develop their own lists of ideas to share publicly.
Either way, record the ideas but don’t discuss their merits at this point. Be especially careful not to allow criticism in the early stages. Instead, focus on identifying as many alternatives as possible. You can evaluate the ideas after you have a list of possibilities.
Before brainstorming, write the problem, issue, or question the group will brainstorm on a chalkboard or flip chart, where everyone can see it throughout the session. Get agreement that from everyone that the issue is stated correctly and precisely.
ACTION POINT: Use brainstorming to generate alternative solutions for specific issues.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Friday, February 6, 2009
Generating Alternatives
After weighing the merits of a variety of options, you are in a better position to make the best decision for the situation facing you.
To make an informed decision, you need choices—alternative courses of action you might take to resolve the issue at hand. Generating alternatives creates those choices. After weighing the merits of a variety of options, you are in a better position to make the best decision for the situation facing you. Here, it’s important to recognize that “go/no-go” choice does not mean you have generated multiple alternatives—go/no-go is only a single option.
Consider the following story:
Paul, a marketing manager at a consumer products company, calls a meeting with his team to discuss how to increase laundry detergent sales in Latin America. The meeting begins with silence as everyone waits for someone else to speak. Paul breaks the silence by suggesting they consider changing the current packaging. Following this cue, someone chimes in with supporting statistics about packaging of a product that has done well in Latin America. The meeting concludes with the assignment of a task force to research new packaging options.
This meeting seemed to proceed smoothly. But something’s wrong. Paul didn’t engage the team in generating alternatives. He didn’t promote healthy debate or constructive conflict. Instead, excessive group harmony resulted in an action step based on the first idea that emerged; investigate packing options. There was little creativity or innovative thinking. As a result, no new ideas surfaced. The group settled on the first alternative suggested, which had been Paul’s idea!
Paul could have helped his group generate a wider range of promising alternatives if he had applied certain practices, such as brainstorming, dialoguing, and promoting fair process.
ACTION POINT: Spark creativity by encouraging and seeking a wider range of alternatives when using a group to make a decision.
To make an informed decision, you need choices—alternative courses of action you might take to resolve the issue at hand. Generating alternatives creates those choices. After weighing the merits of a variety of options, you are in a better position to make the best decision for the situation facing you. Here, it’s important to recognize that “go/no-go” choice does not mean you have generated multiple alternatives—go/no-go is only a single option.
Consider the following story:
Paul, a marketing manager at a consumer products company, calls a meeting with his team to discuss how to increase laundry detergent sales in Latin America. The meeting begins with silence as everyone waits for someone else to speak. Paul breaks the silence by suggesting they consider changing the current packaging. Following this cue, someone chimes in with supporting statistics about packaging of a product that has done well in Latin America. The meeting concludes with the assignment of a task force to research new packaging options.
This meeting seemed to proceed smoothly. But something’s wrong. Paul didn’t engage the team in generating alternatives. He didn’t promote healthy debate or constructive conflict. Instead, excessive group harmony resulted in an action step based on the first idea that emerged; investigate packing options. There was little creativity or innovative thinking. As a result, no new ideas surfaced. The group settled on the first alternative suggested, which had been Paul’s idea!
Paul could have helped his group generate a wider range of promising alternatives if he had applied certain practices, such as brainstorming, dialoguing, and promoting fair process.
ACTION POINT: Spark creativity by encouraging and seeking a wider range of alternatives when using a group to make a decision.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Steps for Identifying Decision-Making Objectives
What are you trying to achieve by making a decision?
The following four steps can be used to help identify your decision making objectives.
1. Specify the objectives you want to reach.
What are you trying to achieve by making a decision? Make sure that as many people as possible with a stake in solving the problem are asked to specify their objectives, you may conclude you’re actually facing two or more problems, or that more than a few stake holders don’t understand the problem, or that different groups hope to see the problem solved in different ways.
2. Define—as specifically as possible—the performance level that represents a successful outcome.
Do you want a solution that boosts sales? By what percentage? For all regions? Be as precise as you can be.
3. “Paint” a picture of what things will look like when the problem is solved.
Invite stakeholders to describe the desired future state in as much detail as possible. Let imaginations a creativity run loose. Her, too, you may find significant divergence from one person to another. You may resolve differences by compromise, by straight selection of one view over another, or by determining that you in fact have two or more problems at hand.
4. Make sure your agreed-on objectives and outcomes are not in conflict.
You may have determined that part of your solution to customer complaints about telephone orders is to have all of your phone-order reps take an additional three weeks of training. Another part of the solution is to reduce standards for each rep’s completed orders per hour from eight to seven. But can you have the lower staffing levels due to training and the fewer customers handled by each rep at the same time? Will customers then complain more about long waits to have their orders taken? If yes, goals may have to be adjusted.
Once you have created a list of objectives, it’s time to think about the possible courses of action you may take to achieve those goals.
ACTION POINT: Use the four steps above to identify your decision making objectives.
The following four steps can be used to help identify your decision making objectives.
1. Specify the objectives you want to reach.
What are you trying to achieve by making a decision? Make sure that as many people as possible with a stake in solving the problem are asked to specify their objectives, you may conclude you’re actually facing two or more problems, or that more than a few stake holders don’t understand the problem, or that different groups hope to see the problem solved in different ways.
2. Define—as specifically as possible—the performance level that represents a successful outcome.
Do you want a solution that boosts sales? By what percentage? For all regions? Be as precise as you can be.
3. “Paint” a picture of what things will look like when the problem is solved.
Invite stakeholders to describe the desired future state in as much detail as possible. Let imaginations a creativity run loose. Her, too, you may find significant divergence from one person to another. You may resolve differences by compromise, by straight selection of one view over another, or by determining that you in fact have two or more problems at hand.
4. Make sure your agreed-on objectives and outcomes are not in conflict.
You may have determined that part of your solution to customer complaints about telephone orders is to have all of your phone-order reps take an additional three weeks of training. Another part of the solution is to reduce standards for each rep’s completed orders per hour from eight to seven. But can you have the lower staffing levels due to training and the fewer customers handled by each rep at the same time? Will customers then complain more about long waits to have their orders taken? If yes, goals may have to be adjusted.
Once you have created a list of objectives, it’s time to think about the possible courses of action you may take to achieve those goals.
ACTION POINT: Use the four steps above to identify your decision making objectives.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Articulating your decision-making objectives
What do you want the decision we make to accomplish
Once you have successfully framed the issue at hand, identify your objectives in determining a course of action. Ask you team questions like “What do you want the decision we make to accomplish?” and “What would you like to see happen as a result of the decisions we reach?” Invite group members to describe their vision of the outcome of the decision as vividly and specifically as possible.
For example, if you were the manager at New Age Electronics, you and your team might come up with the following objectives:
Reduce the average waiting time per customer to two minutes.
Reduce call volume by 40 percent
Reduce average call duration to three minutes.
During the objective-setting process, you may encounter significant differences in opinion from one person to another. This is a healthy part of the dialogue and should be encouraged. However, if you find your list of objectives spiraling out of control, you may want to revisit the issue you’re trying to address. You may find that you have more than one issue to resolve.
ACTION POINT: Visualize and identify the objectives for the decisions you make.
Once you have successfully framed the issue at hand, identify your objectives in determining a course of action. Ask you team questions like “What do you want the decision we make to accomplish?” and “What would you like to see happen as a result of the decisions we reach?” Invite group members to describe their vision of the outcome of the decision as vividly and specifically as possible.
For example, if you were the manager at New Age Electronics, you and your team might come up with the following objectives:
Reduce the average waiting time per customer to two minutes.
Reduce call volume by 40 percent
Reduce average call duration to three minutes.
During the objective-setting process, you may encounter significant differences in opinion from one person to another. This is a healthy part of the dialogue and should be encouraged. However, if you find your list of objectives spiraling out of control, you may want to revisit the issue you’re trying to address. You may find that you have more than one issue to resolve.
ACTION POINT: Visualize and identify the objectives for the decisions you make.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Performing a root-cause analysis
When confronted with a problem, think about how to frame the issue for your team.
To ensure that you get to the core of a problem, perform a root-cause analysis. During this process, you repeatedly make a statement of fact and ask the question why. For example Carla, the general manager of a pizza parlor, noticed that she was losing sales because her home deliveries were slower than her competitor’s. Her friend suggests that they invest in a fleet of delivery vehicles to solve this problem. Instead of jumping to this conclusion, Carla asks, “Our pizza deliveries are slow. Why? Our delivery associates drive old cars that are in poor condition. Why? They can’t afford repairs or newer cars. Shy? They don’t have the money. Why? Their pay is too low.” Through this process, she realized that the older, poorly maintained vehicles are a symptom of lower wages than those competitors paid.
Root-cause analysis can work well for an individual, a small group, or in brainstorming sessions. When confronted with a problem, think about how to frame the issue for your team. Be careful not to assume from the outset that you know what the problem is. Challenge yourself and your team to get at the core of the issue by framing the problem in a variety of different ways and assessing whether the available information supports your theories. Throughout the entire process, ask why and other open-ended questions (those not requiring simply a yes or no response). Such questions encourage exploration more than closed questions based on predefined assumptions about the problem or requiring a yes or not response.
ACTION POINT: Frame your issues with open ended questions.
To ensure that you get to the core of a problem, perform a root-cause analysis. During this process, you repeatedly make a statement of fact and ask the question why. For example Carla, the general manager of a pizza parlor, noticed that she was losing sales because her home deliveries were slower than her competitor’s. Her friend suggests that they invest in a fleet of delivery vehicles to solve this problem. Instead of jumping to this conclusion, Carla asks, “Our pizza deliveries are slow. Why? Our delivery associates drive old cars that are in poor condition. Why? They can’t afford repairs or newer cars. Shy? They don’t have the money. Why? Their pay is too low.” Through this process, she realized that the older, poorly maintained vehicles are a symptom of lower wages than those competitors paid.
Root-cause analysis can work well for an individual, a small group, or in brainstorming sessions. When confronted with a problem, think about how to frame the issue for your team. Be careful not to assume from the outset that you know what the problem is. Challenge yourself and your team to get at the core of the issue by framing the problem in a variety of different ways and assessing whether the available information supports your theories. Throughout the entire process, ask why and other open-ended questions (those not requiring simply a yes or no response). Such questions encourage exploration more than closed questions based on predefined assumptions about the problem or requiring a yes or not response.
ACTION POINT: Frame your issues with open ended questions.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Framing the Issue at Hand
…avoid the common error of seeking out solutions before you understand the nature (the root cause) of the issue at hand.
Once you’ve set the stage and recognized common obstacles that can stand in the way of decision making, you’re ready to frame the issue for your decision-making team. A key task during this step is to avoid the common error of seeking out solutions before you understand the nature (the root cause) of the issue at hand.
Consider the following story: New Age Electronics, a toy manufacturer, has a support phone line to answer customers’ questions about assembling its products. The volume of phone calls has increased so much that the phone-support associates can’t keep up with the demand. Customers have complained about waiting as long as half an hour to get help. Tai, the manager responsible for the support line, puts together a team to help him decide how to address the issue. He begins the first meeting by saying, “We have a serious problem with our customer support line. Customers are waiting too long for service. We need to fix it.”
Because Tai has framed the issue as a problem with the phone line response time, the team is most likely to focus on ways to reduce the response time—for example, adding more phone line, adding more reps, or increasing the hours of service. These solutions will address the symptoms of the problem—overloaded phone lines—but may not address the root of the problem.
To get to the root of the problem, Tai’s team should be thinking about why customer callas have increased dramatically. Is one product in particular responsible for an inordinate number of calls? Is there a flaw in the design of a product or in the assembly instructions? Are the phone-support associates poorly trained? Suppose Tai had framed the issue by saying, “We have a serious problem with our customer support line. The volume of calls has increased, customers are waiting too long for service, and we need to find out why. Then we need to decide what to do about it.” This framing would better guide the team toward uncovering the root cause of the problem. The team would thus stand a better chance of eventually deciding on a course of action that would address the cause of the problem instead of just treating a symptom of the problem.
ACTION POINT: Look beyond symptoms of issues to address root causes.
Once you’ve set the stage and recognized common obstacles that can stand in the way of decision making, you’re ready to frame the issue for your decision-making team. A key task during this step is to avoid the common error of seeking out solutions before you understand the nature (the root cause) of the issue at hand.
Consider the following story: New Age Electronics, a toy manufacturer, has a support phone line to answer customers’ questions about assembling its products. The volume of phone calls has increased so much that the phone-support associates can’t keep up with the demand. Customers have complained about waiting as long as half an hour to get help. Tai, the manager responsible for the support line, puts together a team to help him decide how to address the issue. He begins the first meeting by saying, “We have a serious problem with our customer support line. Customers are waiting too long for service. We need to fix it.”
Because Tai has framed the issue as a problem with the phone line response time, the team is most likely to focus on ways to reduce the response time—for example, adding more phone line, adding more reps, or increasing the hours of service. These solutions will address the symptoms of the problem—overloaded phone lines—but may not address the root of the problem.
To get to the root of the problem, Tai’s team should be thinking about why customer callas have increased dramatically. Is one product in particular responsible for an inordinate number of calls? Is there a flaw in the design of a product or in the assembly instructions? Are the phone-support associates poorly trained? Suppose Tai had framed the issue by saying, “We have a serious problem with our customer support line. The volume of calls has increased, customers are waiting too long for service, and we need to find out why. Then we need to decide what to do about it.” This framing would better guide the team toward uncovering the root cause of the problem. The team would thus stand a better chance of eventually deciding on a course of action that would address the cause of the problem instead of just treating a symptom of the problem.
ACTION POINT: Look beyond symptoms of issues to address root causes.
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