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Lessons learned and management concepts for today's and tomorrow's leaders – a
blog by DELTANOMIX
LEADER SYNDROME
* Home
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LEADER SYNDROME GETS FULLY INTEGRATED WITH ENCOGNIZE!
Posted by encognize G.K. in Uncategorized on October 2, 2017
Dear followers and visitors,
First of all, thank you to all of you for showing interest in our articles over
the years. Between January 2015 and September 2017, our posts have been
consulted ~31,000 times while, during the same period, our one-page executive
summaries have been downloaded ~4,500 times. We sincerely hope that all our
readers could learn and benefit from our selected content to further build
responsible management practices within their organizations.
Today, we are pleased and excited to share that Leader Syndrome becomes fully
part of encognize under the service line called encognize .wisdomseed as of
September 1, 2017.
In an increasingly complex and versatile environment, successful global leaders
are the ones who manage to build an agile, resilient and sustainable
organization thanks to strong work ethics, discipline and a focus on keeping
their employees at the centre of the value creation process.
How prepared, equipped and engaged are your leaders, managers and employees in
building a sustainable future?
encognize .wisdomseed services include:
* the creation and delivery of Global Leadership and Management Best Practices
development programs
* the support and mentoring of managers facing key structural challenges such
as a rapid organizational scale-up phase or organizational turbulence due to
a volatile business environment
* the participation to leadership trainings from partners
To learn more, visit us at www.encognize.com or contact us at info@encognize.com
Stay tuned for new activities soon!
Bruno
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LEADER CHECKPOINT: 9 SIMPLE -BUT NOT EASY- QUESTIONS
Posted by encognize G.K. in Know thyself, Know your business, Know your team on
December 23, 2013
“In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to
take a distanced view of close things.”
– Miyamoto Musashi (宮本 武蔵), famous Japanese swordsman (~1584-1645) in “The Book
of Five Rings” (五輪書)
Abstract:
The more businesses urgency increases, the more important it is for business
leaders and managers to regularly step back and reflect on the 3 cornerstones
supporting the development of an healthy organization: the understanding of the
overall business environment and related company directions, the appreciation of
the company teams situation and the alignment with one self as part of the
management team. Answering the questions from this post is a first step that
should help any leader to initiate a deeper thinking exercise when and where
required.
Download a one-page executive summary here (PDF or JPEG format): Leader
Checkpoint: 9 critical questions
Concept:
As leaders and managers, growing a sustainable organization requires to
constantly align the company business, the teams in charge of delivering on the
company mission and oneself. If only two of these three cornerstones are in
sync, disaster is very probably a matter of time…
More concretely, imagine the result for your company, your teams and/or
yourself in the following misalignment cases:
1. Alignment between Business environment and Self but unsynchronized with
Team: As a manager, you are fully motivated and aware of what you have to
deliver with which support, with a clear understanding of your company
priorities under the given business context, but your teams do no longer
understand the company strategy and do not follow on the required
organizational changes; key staff attrition increases rapidly…
2. Alignment between Team and Self but unsynchronized with Business
environment: Under your leadership, your team has reached a high level of
maturity leading to strong performance; you have supported its development
leveraging with agility on your management strengths and expertise while
continuing improving on your weaknesses and you have built a solid
relationship based on trust and respect with your team members. Nonetheless
neither you nor your team understand any more what the customers expect and
how the company is trying to answer to those new needs…
3. Alignment between Business environment and Team but unsynchronized with
Self: Your company has just identified new trends changing the landscape of
your industry and is preparing the necessary organization adjustment; your
team gets clearly why a change is needed at that stage but you are already
over-loaded and do not know whether you would have the ability to lead an
organizational change at this stage while handling in parallel some personal
difficulties…
In order to (re)initiate the thinking process on those 3 cornerstones,
answer the 9 questions below in the “Practice” section. To some questions,
answers may pop instantaneously whereas, to some others, you may stay perplex.
In any case, note down your answers; they can be used later as a basis for a
deeper study by yourself, with your teams, management or peers. Take the time to
run this checkpoint exercise once or twice a year at least (at a time and in a
place where you can focus).
Practice:
* exercise 1: Reflect on your business
* What makes your organization unique in the value it delivers to its
customers?
* How does your organization anticipate and answer to the forces (re)shaping
your ecosystem?
* As part of the management team, what does your company expect you to
achieve to support its mission in both a short-term and long-term
perspective?
* exercise 2: Reflect on your teams
* If you’d ask each of your staff to explain in 2 minutes what your company
position and uniqueness are, as well as what the expectation regarding
their individual and team contribution in supporting the company mission
is, what would be the result?
* If you had to rebuild from scratch your organization, which of your current
employees would you ask to join, in which role and why?
* How does the development plan set for your teams and their members match
the individual trajectories?
* exercise 3: Reflect on yourself
* What are your top 3 personal and professional successes and failures over
the past 12 months?
* What is the “one thing” that you want to achieve personally and
professionally over the next 3 months, 1 year, 3 years, 10 years and how?
* What are the intrinsic or extrinsic conditions that could prevent you
from aligning with your company objectives and with your teams?
So What?
From your business universe, your teams, yourself, taking time to grasp the
context and to understand the situation at hands is what will allow you to set
the relevant action plan to support the development of your organization, teams
and self on the long run. Running regularly a simple 9-question self-reflection
on your business, teams and self can help you to identify areas to study and
discuss in deeper details as a next step.
Last Revision: 2015 March 28
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FROM A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS TO A PERFORMING TEAM: NAVIGATING THE TUCKMAN’S MODEL
Posted by encognize G.K. in Know your business, Know your team on December 22,
2013
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together
is success.”
– Henry Ford, US industrialist and pioneer of the assembly-line production
method (1863-1947)
Abstract:
Tuckman’s generic model of group development (proposed in 1965) suggests that,
for a team to grow from a group of individuals to a performing team, 4 stages
are necessary and inevitable: forming, storming, norming and performing. An
ultimate phase (added in 1977), adjourning, closes the team development cycle.
Being able to identify the current maturity stage of your teams will help you to
deploy the relevant approach and strategies to develop them to the
next stage till they reach a maximal performance level.
Concept:
Based on his research into the theory of group dynamics, Bruce Tuckman has
proposed a model of group development that asserts that, for a team to grow,
to handle and solve issues and to perform optimally, it will go through 4 stages
called Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing. Following this last stage of
high team maturity, it is very probable that the surrounding environment will
bring new challenges requiring to transform the structure in place. The team
development cycle will then be closed by an ultimate stage called Adjourning and
a new cycle can start in order to build the new team that can tackle those
changes.
Obviously, as a leader, it is your responsibility:
* to understand in which stage your team operates,
* to design the relevant strategies to develop your team till the Performing
stage,
* to follow-up on the execution of those strategies (including working on the
necessary adjustments when and where required).
In the following paragraphs, you will find a description for each stage of the
Tuckman’s model and, more importantly, a list of recommendations to help you
manage your team within each stage. It is also strongly suggested to couple
those recommendations with the use of the PDCA method in order to prevent
from getting stuck at a given development stage, thanks to continuous
incremental improvement efforts.
1. Forming stage
* Description:
* In this first stage, the team is brought together. At that stage the
team is more to be seen as a group of individuals than a real team.
* Each individual will look at understanding his new environment (role,
mission, challenges…) and will spend time getting to know his
colleagues, avoiding conflict and building new relationships.
* Because the relationship between each team members is usually not yet
established at this stage (unless some employees were already working
together previously), everybody will strive doing his best to achieve
the tasks at hands in an independent manner.
* Recommendations:
* As a pre-requisite to the team constitution, the manager in charge of
building the team must of course be clear on the goals for his team, the
role it will play in the overall department mission and/or company
strategy. In other words why is the team being built in a first place
and what is it expected to achieve?
* Then, the manager will have to be able to assess the progress of his
newly-created team and identify how it performs against the objectives:
this requires the definition of relevant metrics and Key Performance
Indicators (KPI) that will serve as a dashboard. The manager must keep
in mind that KPIs are only a tool to measure the progress; it cannot
replace himself as the “pilot” in charge of the team and KPIs cannot be
considered as objectives as such but are only a measure of the success
in accomplishing the mission.
* In parallel to a clear mission statement and metrics, the manager must
reflect on the values and attitudes that he wants to promote within the
team (encompassing but not limited to the corporate values, if
existing). Which behaviours will be supported in the team and what are
the ones to be banned?
* On top of the above points, developing a common culture within the team
will also require the manager to think about the “language” to use
(vocabulary specific to the team / job /product), as well as the
supporting practices and structure required to achieve the goals.
* Ideally, the recruitment of talents for the team should not start before
the manager has a precise idea of the above points. Moreover, once the
team is formed, establishing a Team Charter summarizing the above points
and sharing it with the team members is a possible means to set initial
expectations. Running frequent team meetings is also key to set the
right direction from the beginning.
* The Forming stage is also the phase when the manager should spend
quality time with each team member to understand who they are, to
identify what makes them ticking, to see how they react to various
situations and how they start interacting with their colleagues, peers,
customers, providers… Getting to know personally each team member will
help design appropriate individual objectives and team goals. It will
also be of a great support during the Storming phase to adjust the
leadership styles depending on the employee.
* A “leader control” leadership style is usually more appropriate for this
discovery stage. It is though important to give space to employees to
know each other and to voice their first concerns if any.
2. Storming stage
* Description:
* In a second phase, once the team members have got accustomed to their
new manager, colleagues and work, the popping challenges or issues faced
by the team will bring competing ideas or views on how to tackle them.
In other words, every team member will try to position himself in the
team, sometimes creating conflicts or raising divergences on how to
handle the various situations at stake (from interaction and team rules
definition, to management style expectation or also methods and
practices to use by the team).
* Team members will confront their ideas and opinions, using the
relationships they have built in the Forming phase. This confrontation
can be painful, especially for conflict-averse people, and even
destructive for the team if not handled carefully by the manager in
charge.
* In the same way, this phase may come as a large source of stress for the
manager in charge.
* If not properly handled by the manager, the team may never leave this
stage…
* Recommendations:
* Although a “Leader control” leadership style is more appropriate in this
phase in order to keep things under control, the manager should also
encourage the exchange of ideas in a constructive manner,
arbitrating objectively each situation and focusing on what is required
to be achieved by the team. Prohibited behaviours as defined in the
Forming phase must be quickly reprimanded if surging.
* Respect of the diversity in opinions and tolerance between team members
is what will help the manager to get the best suggestions on the way to
move forward while supporting the creation of the necessary bound within
the team. For that purpose, the manager should focus on creating
relevant team objectives that will foster collaboration (goals that
require the unique knowledge and expertise of each single team members
to be achieved), identifying possible quick wins.
* In the same way, progress on the individuals objectives should be
closely followed up through one-on-one meetings and goals should be
adjusted to support both the employee’s personal development and the
team’s one.
* As an example, having the individual team members working as a team on
the revision of the Team Charter to improve it based on the first
observations is an activity that can help fostering a greater team
spirit when well-controlled by the manager. A consultative
decision-making style works the best for this type of team member
synchronization exercise.
3. Norming stage
* Description:
* If well handled, the result of a constructive Storming phase should
naturally bring the team to a state where each team member is clear on
their accountabilities, working methods, and way of interacting with
each other.
* The culture of the team has normally been embodied and the team members
as well as their managers are fully synchronized, working in the same
direction and focusing on delivering on the team objectives.
* Recommendations:
* At that stage, the manager of the team should put some more efforts on
developing further every single employee through personalized plan.
* Because the team is more mature, the manager can adopt an “employee
control” leadership style, giving more space for the employees to
improve the team further by themselves. For that purpose, the
decision-making process within the team can progressively move toward
a majority vote or consensus approach for organization-related matters.
* Nonetheless, because the team is perfectly synchronized, the risk is to
see the development of an over-consensus attitude aiming at keeping
harmony at any price. Therefore, in this phase, the manager must still
stimulate healthy debates and exchange of opinions (even if divergent)
so that action plans to develop the team further can be created. Without
that, the Performing stage may never be reached. Similarly too much
uncertainty or poorly controlled conflicts during the Norming phase (for
example due to high pressure conditions) may bring the team back in
Storming…
4. Performing stage
* Description:
* The team has reached the ultimate stage of maturity (actually very few
teams will reach that stage); it can run independently with minimum
supervision or input from the manager. Team members are fully competent
and know perfectly how to handle routine; they can
also tackle unexpected situations falling in the scope of the team
responsibility.
* As an image of a performing team, let’s get a refresh of what is a
professional team handling a pit stop in Formula 1.
* Recommendations:
* The last duty for the manager in charge of the team will be to prepare
for the future… If he is promoted thanks to his success in developing
the team up to its highest maturity stage, it is then his responsibility
to find the best successor and help the transition. If he stays as the
head of the team, he needs to anticipate what may come and disrupt the
current equilibrium (new technology, new mission, new product, new
business landscape, new management…)
* In both cases (a new manager or a disruptive context), the team will go
through its last stage, adjourning, because the new conditions or
environment will call for a revised structure starting again a new team
development cycle at the Forming stage…
Practice:
* exercise 1: Look at the various teams and departments within your company; in
which stage of the Tuckman’s model are they now?
* exercise 2: When you had started in your current role, in which development
stage of the Tuckman’s model was your team operating? In which phase is it
now? Which actions have you taken to navigate the team from one stage to the
other?
* exercise 3: Considering your current team, which further actions can you take
to lead them to the Performing stage? In case your team has already reached
the Performing stage, how are you preparing the future?
So What?
By considering the Tuckman’s model that divides the team development cycle in 5
stages: Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing – Adjourning and by
identifying in which stage his team operates, the manager in charge can better
define the type of strategy that is required to develop his team up to the
highest level of maturity, synonym of high performance. While being clear on the
objectives, values and KPIs during the norming stage, the manager needs to set
the foundation to handle the difficult storming phase. Adapting to each
individuals, promoting tolerance and open, constructive exchange of opinions
while showing the direction as a leader should then allow the manager to move
his team from the storming stage to the norming one. Having then all team
members working aligned with the team mission should not prevent the manager to
set higher expectations and identify areas of improvement to reach the
performing stage. All team members have obviously an active role to play in
moving the team to this high maturity stage. Finally, because most businesses
and organizations are by nature volatile, subject to external moving conditions
as well as internal change factors, the team will very probably need adjustment;
it will be adjourned letting place to the creation of a new structure that will
start a new cycle at the forming stage…
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ONE KEY RULE FOR SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS INTERACTIONS: BE PREPARED!
Posted by encognize G.K. in Know your business on November 3, 2013
“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
– Benjamin Franklin, author, printer, political theorist, politician,
postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman,
and diplomat (1706-1790)
Abstract:
In sport, music, theater or many other disciplines, it is obvious that success
strongly depends on the time spent preparing for the event itself. With no
surprise, the same rule applies to business. In order to increase your chance of
success, let us introduce you to the OsCAR framework for power preparation of
your most critical, high-stress professional interactions and events.
The OsCAR framework for power preparation is introduced as part of the class
“Work Stress Management – the Essentials”
Access the full class here
Last Revision: 2020 June 21
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EFFECTIVE DECISION-MAKING: WHEN TO ENGAGE THE TEAM (OR NOT)?
Posted by encognize G.K. in Know your business, Know your team on October 13,
2013
“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is
largely a matter of conscious choice, and discipline.”
– in “Good to Great” from Jim Collins, American business consultant, author, and
lecturer on the subject of company sustainability and growth (born 1958)
Abstract:
Several times a day, managers have to take decisions that will potentially
impact or benefit their business, customers or teams… What is the best approach
between a top-down decision-making approach and a bottom-up one? What
are the various decision-making approaches and which one to favor for which
situation? This post introduces the four main decision-making methods that shift
the balance of the decision control between the leader and to their teams: the
unilateral style, the consultative style, the democratic style and the consensus
style. This posts also presents the related best practices on how and when
to use those styles, depending on the analysis of some key criteria related to
the situation at hands (like urgency, maturity of the team, expertise required,
fostering engagement).
Download a one-page executive summary here (PDF or JPEG format): Decision-Making
Styles: from Leader to Team
Concept:
Because, in a business world, most of the decisions that are taken will impact
the business itself and potentially, through ripple or direct effect, the team
morale and engagement, it is key for managers to define and follow
decision-making practices that will ensure that the best possible decisions for
the business and for the teams are taken for any given situation and that the
team fully supports those decisions once taken.
From our observations, efficient managers have often developed the following
decision-making habits:
* They assess first if it is a situation where they need to be involved
personally or where they can fully delegate the decision-making process to a
trusted employee, relying on the existing reporting structure (in that latter
case, it is recommended that the manager trains his employees on the content
of this post prior to the decision-making delegation) ,
* In case they need to be involved personally in the decision-making process,
they know the panel of decision-making types that they can use with their
relative benefits and risks,
* They understand which decision-making style to pick through the
identification of key factors linked to the situation they want to
address (such as existing data and facts at hands, urgency, expertise
required, operation frame and constraints, what is negotiable and what is
not, potential business impact and team impact…)
* They are aware of the main decision-making biases and other heuristics,
* They communicate clearly to their team on the above before initiating the
decision-making process,
* They ensure the support and commitment of all the team members once the
decision is taken (regardless of the approach chosen)
* They review periodically, during the execution, the outcomes of the decision
and assess the level of divergence between the expected results and the
reality, often using a Plan-Do-Check-Act approach. They do not hesitate to
recognize possible decision errors early enough and bring the team back at
the decision table for necessary adjustments.
* They do not shy away from their responsibilities as team leaders on the
outcome of the decision, regardless of the method chosen and the decision
itself
In order to help managers navigate this apparent complexity, below is a summary
of the four main decision-making styles with their respective descriptions, the
recommendation when to use them and their related risks. Those decision-making
styles allows the leader or the team to have more or less direct control on the
decision itself. Note that the scope covered here is for decisions involving or
impacting a full team; process and comments for individual decision-making where
a single employee is concerned would obviously differ.
1. “Unilateral” or “Directive” decision-making style
* Description:
* the manager takes the decision unilaterally and communicates it to the
team
* this style gives the full control of the decision to the manager and
usually leaves no space for negotiation.
* It is frequently used by managers with a “leader
control”-oriented leadership style
* When to use:
* to use for emergency cases under time pressure but only when the
manager possesses the necessary expertise or experience
* to use on time sensitive issues with a junior team lacking experience or
knowledge (or under unstable conditions) and when the business at stake
is high
* to use when it is a non-negotiable top-down decision where frame and
context cannot be openly shared
* Risks and recommendation:
* beware of the “hero leader” syndrome: the exclusive use of this approach
by a manager will not support the team development and will quickly
create frustration or disengagement from the team members.
* probability of having team members not committing or supporting the
decision is high.
* Therefore, once the decision is taken and case closed, it is recommended
that the manager holds a debrief session with the team. Topics to cover
are: explanations on how the manager came to that decision, open
constructive feedbacks from the team, lessons learned on what worked and
what could have been better and the steps for the team to learn how to
efficiently contribute to similar situations in the future. Obviously,
those recommendations do not apply in case of a non-negotiable top-down
decision where individual follow-up meeting would then be more
appropriate.
* Prior to announcing his decision – and if not time-sensitive -, the
manager can “test” it with his trusted partners (manager, peers, HR…) to
see their reactions and help preparing answers to possible objections or
to seek inputs on how to generate higher support for the team
2. “Consultative” decision-making style
* Description:
* the manager requests inputs to his team members but takes the ultimate
decision
* this style allows the manager to have a strict control on the decision
while engaging his team members in the decision-making process by
seeking and gathering their views and inputs.
* It is often used by managers with a “leader control”-oriented leadership
style but also by managers with an “employee control”-oriented
leadership style when put under time pressure to decide.
* When to use:
* to use when the manager needs specific expertise that he does not have
to decide
* to use instead of consensus decision-making when time is of an essence
* to use to initiate further engagement of an already experimented
team that is though not yet mature enough for a consensus approach
* Risks and recommendation:
* if the manager does not explain clearly that he his the ultimate owner
of the decision, he may open the door to long negotiations and debates
that will dilute his objective of gathering valuable inputs for a
quality decision.
* Quality of inputs may be low if objective and frame are not set
clearly (what needs to be decided upon, in which timeframe, what are the
constraints – budget, resource… – and related room for negotiation…)
* this style is efficient only if all team members are in a position to
bring quality inputs, else the manager may create frustration to the
less experimented people from the team who can then get disengaged
* for staff whose inputs seem to have had no influence on the final
decision, commitment to support the decision may decrease
* recommendation is consequently, as a first step, to have the manager
reminding clearly to the team that he is the owner of the final decision
based on the various individual inputs and what the framework for the
decision is.
* Also, the final decision will have to be provided in details to the team
accompanied with explanations on how each input has helped to model the
decision (or the reason why some inputs have been discarded) in order
to ensure full support on the execution (individual meeting may be
required)
3. “Majority vote” or “democratic” decision-making style
* Description:
* the team members and manager provide several alternatives and the final
decision will be based on the result of a vote with pre-defined
parameters.
* this method shifts the power balance to the team since the final
decision may completely differ from the one proposed by the manager.
* It is mainly used by managers with an “employee control”-oriented
leadership style .
* When to use:
* to use with a team large and mature enough to conclude on
several quality proposals as the range of possible choices for the vote
and to generate active participation among the team members on a
specific matter
* Risks and recommendation:
* if the team is not large enough, this method can not apply.
* if the team is not mature enough or has not got the necessary
experience, identifying the viable options may take a considerable
amount of time and discussions. Also the manager needs to be comfortable
with all ideas and with the fact that his own idea may not be picked. If
the manager ends-up with poor quality proposals, he may have to fall
back to a consultative or directive approach which will result in higher
frustration for both the team members and their manager.
* if the voting parameters are unclear (majority percentage, weight of the
manager…) result may create frustration and disengagement.
* staff whose idea does not win may have difficulties or feel frustration
to work on executing the idea of somebody else.
* if the voting is done openly, followers will be inclined to vote for the
same choice as their reference colleague or manager, biasing the result
* Thus, managers applying the majority voting method should first make
sure that the team has reached the sufficient maturity to bring on the
voting table, in a timely manner, viable options that everyone will be
comfortable supporting once the vote is made. The manager should also
clarify explicitly the constraints / framework to get the various
options designed and proposed. Each participant should be given
sufficient time to present his proposal(s) with related benefits and
risks and process to select options that will be submitted to vote
should be clear.
* Besides, the voting method should be presented in details by the manager
in order to avoid any misunderstanding (open or closed vote, required
majority, weight on the manager’s vote or not, second vote in case of
equality…).
4. “Consensus” decision-making styles
* Description:
* All team members with their manager have to build together a
decision that they agree to support without any exception.
* This approach lets the team build and support the decision with almost
full autonomy
* It is commonly used by managers with an “employee control”-oriented
leadership style leading a team that has reached maturity.
* When to use:
* to use with a mature team of experts to create further commitment and
engagement
* Risks and recommendation:
* if the team has not yet reached a sufficient maturity, severe conflicts
can arise or debates may go too emotional.
* for sensitive topics, the manager will have to turn into a professional
moderator else consensus may never be reached. Discussions and debates
may turn hot but have to stay constructive…
* if the manager engages himself too much, he loses the position of
neutral moderator which may generate frustration among the contributing
team members,
* beware of followers who will simply align to their reference colleague
or to the manager view; this can biase the final decision through “false
consensus”
* all employees will have to comply and support the decision when
consensus is reached although they may have prefered a slightly
different option. It is the role of the manager to follow-up and to make
sure that the decision remains supported at anytime (including by
himself)
* Recommendations for managers are here: to make sure that the decision
framework has been clearly set, to dedicate a space to each
individual to express and share their views and ideas openly (preventing
“talkers” to monopolize the debate, “manipulators” to over-influence the
followers and followers to silently align even if not convinced).
Debates may be colorful but discussion must remain constructive and
respectful of every participant at any time; those basic rules must
be reminded prior the opening of the discussion. Note that the support
of an external moderator may be required if the manager cannot assume
the role of neutral moderator.
* Finally, in case a consensus cannot be reached in a predefined
timeframe, it is strongly recommended that the manager has a
decision-making fall-back plan ready.
Practice:
* exercise 1: Look at the key decisions impacting your business and your teams
that you have taken over the past months.
* Which decision-making method(s) have you favored? Why?
* To which extend have you shared the decision-making method with the team?
* How far were the decisions supported by the team members?
* What was the type of engagement generated to your team by the approach
you’ve used?
* If you had to do it over again, would you use the same approach? If not,
what would you do differently and why?
* exercise 2: Which decision-making style would you use in the 3 below cases?
Why? What are the risks and how would you tackle them?
1. You have just been appointed Head of Sales of your unit, coming from the
Client Relationship Management team where you had spent more then 3 years.
Your understanding of the local market was one of the factors that
had supported your promotion to this role. Your Sales Team is
composed of one veteran who has been in the industry for 10 years and
selling the solution over the past 5 years, one sales manager who moved into
the role last year and who had previously worked for 2 years as pre-sales
in another unit of the company, a new grad who joined last year and a
new staff who on-boarded less than 6 months back coming from one of your
main global competitors. It is now beginning of September and you are
requested to present to your executive management by mid-November your next
year sales strategy and related execution plan…
2. Your European-based company provides non-intrusive biometric sensors
combined with easy-to-use health care apps suitable for senior people. Your
company has enjoyed a steady growth and has just opened a business unit
in Japan where the demographic and technology access seems to offer a
promising market. The team is composed of a sizeable sales forces, a small
local R&D team in charge of proposing new solutions based on the local
market specificities and a Service Desk dealing with client issues. Since
the inception of the company, 5 years ago, you have built and been heading
the European-based Service Desk but had looked for a career development
opportunity outside of Europe. Your track record had put you on the top of
the list for a promotion as Japan Head of R&D and Service Desk. And here you
are. Because of the language barrier, you could not move experienced staff
with you and had to build the team from scratch less than a year ago. Today,
your Number One customer calls the Service Desk showing signs of extreme
dissatisfaction with the way that some of the menus and data from your
app are displayed in Japanese and threatens of cancelling the contract. You
remember a very similar case 2 years ago when you had introduced a Russian
version of your app. The customer is waiting for a call back in the next 30
minutes…
3. You are leading the marketing department of your business unit with a team
of three people. So far your company has given large autonomy to each
business unit to manage their own marketing process leading though to
inconsistent practices across the company. Your team members have all been
in the company for more than 3 years showing steady performance, except one
staff wo was just recruited 9 months ago based on his track record at one of
your largest competitor. You are requested to appoint one team
representative to work on a transversal cross-unit project aiming at
defining marketing best practices for the company…
* exercise 3: Analyze the last time you had fully delegated a decision to one
of your team members.
* Do you have clear criteria defined for a full delegation of decision (type
of situation, potential business impact / team impact pre-assessment,
identified team members for specific decisions, reporting structure…)?
* Why have you decided to delegate in this specific case?
* How far have you explained the framework and context related to the
situation to decide upon (timeframe, budget, resource, information and data
at hands…)
* To which extend are the team members you’ve delegated decision authority to
familiar with the concepts of this post?
* How have you followed up upon the delegated decision?
* What were the specific challenges?
* What would you do differently next time you delegate a decision?
So What?
Obviously, taking wrong decisions can easily bring businesses down or destroy
teams’ morale and staff engagement. Developing effective decision-making habits
becomes therefore critical for managers. Assuming that the manager in charge has
to personally get involved in a decision-making process, his first step should
be to identify what is at stake and the context surrounding the situation:
timeframe for the decision, possible impact on the business and on the team,
specific experience or expertise required, available resources, team maturity,
desired level of engagement of team members, risk of unsupported decision,
possible decision-making biases. Then the manager should identify the most
appropriate decision-making method, considering whether he prefers the team to
drive the decision as much as possible or whether he prefers to be the sole
owner of the final decision. As sole owner, the directive style has the merit to
deliver a quick decision-making process suitable for urgent situation with high
business at stake and where expertise is available at the manager level.
Alternatively, if specific experience or expertise is required, the consultative
approach will efficiently support the manager by helping gathering the necessary
inputs from the team, increasing de facto the involvement of the various team
members. A Majority-vote style shifts the decision authority balance further to
the team who then have to come and vote for a viable option with their manager.
Finally, for mature teams, consensus decision-making will very probably bring
the highest level of commitment and support. It is though to be noted that each
one of those styles presents risks depending on the situation at hands. It is
thus the responsibility of the manager to appreciate the benefits and risks of
each of those decision-making styles, to keep in any case accountability over
the decision agreed upon, regardless of the process used and to request for
justifiable adjustments whenever required.
Last Revision: 2015 March 28
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