DECIDING HOW TO DECIDE
You’re a member of a decision-making team. The group is tasked with making a high-stakes decision. Deciding how to decide is as consequential or even more consequential, than deciding the people who will be charged with making the decision. Smart people make good decisions when the process they follow facilitates good decision-making. What steps can you take to ensure the decision a team makes is the best decision possible?
THE PROCESS IS THE SOLUTION, NOT THE PROBLEM
Teams work best when the process they abide by encourages member curiosity and candor. Before seeking consensus (the ultimate output), seek to have members provide input—putting what they know and don’t know on the table. Make the goal not conformity, but clarity. Each member needs to feel free to speak-up and speak-out. The fairness of the process will guide the team’s performance, unlocking their potential.
EXCHANGE IDEAS AND FEELINGS OPENLY
Monitor team interaction. Encourage participation from every member—particularly those who tend to be quieter. Ask questions and reward open inquiry to avoid having members hesitate to share information, or worse, withhold it. The goal is not to let the desire for consensus get in the way of careful analysis. Task each member with challenging the assumptions underlying each conclusion drawn by voicing their doubts and concerns.
DISAGREEING NEED NOT BE DESTRUCTIVE
Healthy disagreement is a positive, not destructive, force. Maintaining silence and echoing untruths are not positives, but destructive. To preserve psychological safety, members critique only the idea, not the person offering the idea. Work through disagreements rather than avoid them.
HOODWINK GROUPTHINK
When it’s time for members to make a decision, give them the ability to vote without seeing one another’s vote. Collect ballots, don’t count hands raised. Members are more likely to share insights candidly during pre-vote discussions if they know their vote will be made privately.
YOUR GAME PLAN
The next time you’re on a decision-making team don’t assume a member’s silence signals agreement. Ask questions of every member. Draw them out. Make it your business to introduce ideas that others may find disturbing. Do what you can to avoid the illusion of unanimity. The goal is not for everyone to think alike. When making a decision the goal is for everyone to work interdependently but think independently.
Blogging About Communication 