How to unblock a team decision

“You don’t have the cards!”

THAT’S uncomfortable.

Yet, we know that in some situations with human behaviour, people want different outcomes for different reasons.

Have you ever been STUCK when it comes to a team decision? 

I remember once upon a team years ago when I was working with an especially challenging group during my education group: what I had seen be successful in these contexts was to discuss, divide the work, and reconvene. This was pretty normal, but, “Peggy” insisted that we stay together and do the work in case any questions came up.

In that situation, the group decided to go with Peggy’s choice: Peggy was overbearing, and there was basically going to be no way but Peggy’s way through this. It was miserable.

While our decision in that context was only “how can do we do this best” in a short-term, low stakes context, the decision was still there.

Yet, not all of your decisions are low stakes, and that matters: both for the decision itself, the organization, as well as the human dynamics at play.

How to unblock or get unstuck

There are a number of factors to consider and think through:

• Are we all playing the same game? What are the motivations at play?  The “why” here is important. Understanding what success looks like is critical: it might not be stated, either. If you feel friction or a lack of clarity of motivations and intentions, be willing to ask the question: “what do you think is right and why?”
• Is there an opportunity for alignment? As Jenn Lofgren and Shawn Gibson share in this piece from Incito, a coaching firm that works across Canada and the U.S., “Strong partnerships start with shared values.”
• Do you need to check yourself? Whether you’re the decision maker or not, you’ve got an opinion. Recognize in the grand scheme: what makes sense here? Is there an opportunity to make this into a two-way door? Or, is this decision a one-shot deal and we HAVE to get it right? It brings to mind Target’s market entry into Canada: it was a massive failure. Cheddar discusses it here in a video.
• What constraints do we have? What enablers do we have? In terms of constraints, you might think of obvious things like people and money, but, what else could be at play? Are there macro factors that are bringing in uncertainty into the conversation? Look carefully at the data that has been compiled (you’ve put together the business case/memo/presentation, for that big decision, right?) and see what is jumping out. Ask people questions like, “What scares you? What excites you?” It should help draw out assumptions. Other things to consider are things like corporate structure: are you self-organizing like Haier and you can be flexible to the moment? Or, is your organization big, slow and rigid? What assets do you have at hand?
• “Have we been here before?” Often history echoes: the important thing is understand what you’ve learned in the past. What circumstances have changed? What’s new? What’s not? If you’re dealing with mostly the same factors (with the same “volume”), it is probable that the same decision will yield the same results. That might be an opportunity to think creatively about what you can influence and control.
• Is this truly a team decision? One thing to avoid is to make it look like the team has input, when it doesn’t truly. I’ve been through that situation and when I figured out we just did an “exercise” and the decision had been made, it was incredibly demoralizing, both to myself and others in the organization.
• What does success look like? For the people around the table as well as the firm, this is important to draw out. This can help create alignment and buy-in as you wade through the discussion.

As you look to navigate through team decision, always remember: keep a cool head (as best as you can). Take lots of deep breaths, and remember to keep the future in mind: that can help your thinking and the thinking of your team. Oh, and watch out for these lies, too.

You might also want to read Fighting Against Horrible Teams, too.