Reason 8

They Take Months to Make a Decision That Could Have Been Made in Minutes

This fate awaits any team that is bound and determined to apply every team tool and toy ever invented. Fresh from the latest team training session they brainstorm, fishbone, mindmap, vision, right brain activate, neuroscience themselves, SOP, input/output, listen with sensitivity, scenario plan, survey, prioritize and analyze everything in sight. They read the latest guru’s book on team Zen, rise to higher levels of consciousness and are at one with the universe. Their karma is amazing. All this to decide what soap dispensers to install in the new bathrooms. By the end of it you are ready to pull out your hair and scream for someone, anyone to just make a decision, any decision. Admit it, you’ve been part of this haven’t you? We all have.

The obvious question that is too often missed in the enthusiasm of using new techniques (or imposed techniques) is ‘How important is this decision?’ For the answer, the team needs to:

1. Consider the big picture context of the decision,

2. While at the same time focusing on solutions.

There is a direct, positive correlation to the importance of the decision and the amount of time needed to reach that decision. The more important the decision, the longer the time required, even though many teams do just the opposite. If your team can determine objectively how much time and energy the decision warrants, your decision making process will speed up considerably.

One particularly time consuming activity to be wary of in the decision making process is the survey. Sure, survey’s can be of value but way too often they are poorly done and are more of an excuse to avoid making a decision. Red warning lights should go off as soon as you hear the word survey. Surveys might be valuable to determine what issues are out there but are typically much less valuable in determining what to do about those issues. That’s why we have teams; to figure out what to do about those issues.

Basically teams have two general areas of value.

1. They often make better decisions than a single individual (especially if you address all these reasons to hate teams!).

2. They help in the implementation of decisions.

The second point is often of greatest value and this should not be ignored when determining the importance of the team’s decisions. Most teams take far too long figuring out WHAT to do and not nearly enough time figuring out HOW to do it. Interestingly, most of the team tools out there deal with figuring out the WHAT rather than the HOW. But that’s ok, because a lot of the work on the HOW will depend on the team’s environment, context and people, so it’s hard to have a set process for the HOW. It’s up to each team to invent the HOW that best suits their own environment.

Discussion and comment points for this post:

1. What’s the most overused team tool?

2. What’s the most effective team tool you have used?

3. What’s your favorite book on teams (you can include this one!)?

4. How do you know when you need some tools or when they are being overused?

#teamdevelopment #teameffectiveness #teams #Teamwork