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Team strategy
How to make team decisions faster and better, with the groundwork to put in first and 4 decision-making techniques compared.
Some teams take forever to decide. Others decide fast and get it wrong. This post covers why team decisions stall, the groundwork that fixes it, and 4 techniques to choose from depending on the decision in front of you.
Three problems come up again and again:
Prioritize honesty, openness, and accountability. Give people chances to get to know each other personally: group outings, team lunches, or virtual team-building events. People who are comfortable with each other say what they actually think, and that's what a good decision needs.
Use regular check-ins, status updates, and one-on-ones so no perspective gets overlooked. Set ground rules for discussion, such as no interrupting and no judgment, so people feel safe putting an opinion on the table.
Everyone should know their role in the decision-making process and what's expected of them. Know each person's skills, experience, and strengths, and use them. A team charter helps: a document that sets out the team's purpose, goals, roles, and responsibilities, plus its guidelines for communication and decisions.
No single method fits every decision. Each of these has a cost.
The whole team discusses until everyone agrees on a course of action. Everyone ends up on board. It's also slow, so it's a poor fit when time is short or opinions are far apart.
Everyone votes; the most votes wins. It's quick, and it breaks a deadlock when consensus isn't coming. The costs: the people who lost can feel unheard, and a majority can still miss options or misjudge the consequences.
List the options, score each against criteria such as feasibility, impact, or cost, and tally the scores. The highest score wins. It's thorough and objective, but building the criteria and scoring every option takes time.
Circulate a series of questionnaires that team members answer anonymously. Seniority and authority drop out of the picture, so every opinion gets weighed on its merits. It's especially useful for sensitive or controversial topics, and it guards against groupthink.
Active listening means paying attention to what someone says, understanding the emotions and intentions behind it, and responding to that. Empathy goes a step further: imagining how they feel. Put it into practice with a few rules:
Invite people to bring their own backgrounds, experiences, and expertise into the discussion. Seek out the people with a different take, and encourage them to challenge assumptions and biases. That's how a team gets past the obvious answer.
Address conflict promptly. Ask people to state opinions respectfully, and keep the discussion on the problem, not the person. Depersonalized, a disagreement becomes useful information. If it gets too hard to resolve inside the team, bring in a neutral third party or mediator to help find common ground.