We know that making decisions is critical to leading in both your personal and professional worlds.
To support you today, we’re sharing a framework you can use as you determine which decisions you need to make, and whether or not you will use input from the team.
When you’re leading, identifying how you’ll make decisions, is the first step.
Once you’ve decided on the style, it’s important to let others know how you’ll be using their input.
Finally, after you’ve made the decision, it’s essential to circle back and let the team know the final decision and how you used their input. (Don’t skip this step!)
Please note, while the summary we’re sharing focuses primarily on decision making in the workplace, it can also be applied to decisions in your family, in organizations where you volunteer, and in your life.
• LEADER or MANAGER DECIDES •
Autocratic: As the leader you make the decision on your own, without input from others.
Have the team paraphrase to be sure you’ve been clear and that they understand why you’ll be making a decision in this style.
Consultative: As the leader you engage your team in giving you their input, expertise, and perspective, and then you make the decision on your own.
Typically, leaders engage their team before they make a decision to help as they think through what to do. Be sure to let them know how you’ll use their input.
• GROUP DECIDES •
Group Decision: The group shares in making the decision, and as a leader/manager you have an equal voice in the decision.
Remind the team that you are just one voice and consider sharing your input at the end so that others aren’t skewed by your thoughts.
Delegation: As the leader/manager, you turn over, or delegate, the power of deciding to the group completely.
We’ve found that delegation can be a very effective style IF the leader/manager provides clear parameters for the people making the decision.
Being able to describe
how you’re making the decision,
what you’re asking of others on your team,
and then following through with what you’ve said,
will help to create trust with your team.
Be sure to follow through with the type of decision you’ve committed to. Employees quickly lose trust when you tell them that they can be part of a decision and then you make the decision autocratically.
There may be times when you aren’t able to stand by your commitment—we know life can get messy sometimes! When this happens, be sure to own it and let them know why. This should be an exception and not the rule.
This week, spend some time thinking about the types of decisions you make. Are you using the best style to make those decisions and are you clearly communicating to your team?
Let us know what decision-making styles work for you.
If you’d like support
identifying and communicating
your decision-making styles,
contact us today.
