Detect and Respond: the new business reality

Speed and agility are the name of the game if you want to beat your competitors or stay out front. The key to instilling speed and agility into an organization lies with its leaders. How do they make decisions?

We simply don't have the luxury of time any longer and organizations can ill afford to have managers making decisions in a vacuum. There is a burgeoning industry now in decision making software - but I for one, believe in the age old adage "two heads are better than one" (or 3 or more).

So, in the interest of time, I recommend a structured process for individual managers or management teams to use when faced with a decision requirement. Once trained, anyone can participate in the process.

Structured? Yes. Slow? No! Certainly not when used on a regular basis and absolutely not when it becomes part of the culture. There are 7 simple steps. Each can be done quickly if you bring the functional experts to the table.

SEVEN SIMPLE STEPS IN COLLABORATIVE DECISION MAKING

1. ARTICULATE
The first step is to "stop". Just stop and think. What is the real decision that must be made? Too often much time is spent on everyone's view or making a decision that misses the mark. Take 5 minutes to clearly articulate what decision the team needs to make; when everyone on the team agrees......

2. GATHER
Once you know what the real challenge is have the team gather all the pertinent and accurate data on hand for consideration. This may include financial reports, human resources reports, manufacturing statistics - it will depend on the decision to be made and what information is available. When the data has been reviewed, list all possible causes.

3. GENERATE
Solutions - as many as you can and then list alternatives - keep going until you have exhausted all possibilities. Everyone contributes and no idea is a bad idea.

4. CONVERGE
Now that you have a diverse set of statements and multiple possible solutions, you need to rank them from highest to lowest in terms of desirable. Come up with a top 10.

5. CHOOSE
Identify the pro's and con's for each and then rate them. Select the solution that provides the most pro's and identify possible solutions for the con's. It isn't always the solution with the most points that wins....sometimes a solution will have manageable conflicts associated with it but still be the best decision to be made given the information at hand.

6. TEST
Before you run....take 10 minutes to think about what possible constraints you will encounter when you implement this solution. Will your customers react? Employees? Is there a financial impact you need to have approved? Do you need to draft a special communication? Do Training? The items you identify at this juncture could mean success or failure.

7. IMPLEMENT
If you have followed a structured process to come to your conclusion and considered all of the key points in a collaborative process - go!

It really doesn't delay decisions. Rather it makes decisions better, faster and smarter. When used throughout an organization it becomes ingrained in the culture, a language everyone uses and understands.

There is no time wasted solving the wrong problem, no room for egos or personal agendas, politics are "out the window" and it can be done virtually once a team is trained. Organizations reduce risk, save time and save money.

"Structured? Yes. Slow? No!"