- August 23, 2012
- Culture of Collaboration, Leadership, Team Building
I recently met with the Santa Fe Opera to discuss the collaborative leadership dynamic on their executive team, as well as how performances are created over a period of a few months. As usual, I discovered that the process is much longer and more involved than it looks from the outside. What seems to take a few months to put together is really in process for years with many people involved in the outcome. Of course the all-important part of this process is that the outcome is the largest factor in the equation. Sometimes in the corporate world, the outcome diminishes in importance as distractions or individual intentions grow. So there is something to be learned about the creation of goals and keeping the focus on those goals through more effective team communication.
In this post I’d like to share a few tips on how to manage and communicate decision-making with an ongoing team. How often have you noticed that when a decision has been made it seems like a surprise?
Decisions within an organization are made in many ways due to a number of factors:
- Time line
- When action is needed
- Engagement
- Team leadership
- Organizational impact
In general the level of involvement in decision-making tends to determine the level of ownership, and the more involvement and input your team has, the more engaged they will be in supporting the decision and in the implementation. But sometimes decisions need to be made quickly and at the top without team input.
So what can you do to keep your team engaged and accountable when decisions come down from the top?
- Create an information session and ask your team for input on implementation plans to bring the engagement quotient up.
- Help your team clearly understand the decision by explaining how it was made and what the implications are.
- Create a plan for implementation with clear communication and accountability steps.
By providing your team with the larger picture on decisions made, and by encouraging their input in their area of expertise, you create greater buy-in and accountability with each team member.
Sometimes we think that meeting to make decisions is inconvenient and time-consuming; and indeed I was involved in a Linked In discussion just a few days ago on this very thought which has inspired me to discuss the qualities of an effective meeting in my next post. An effective meeting can create a very productive work session that furthers the results that everyone is working for. Stay tuned!
As always, I encourage you to share your own thoughts and experiences by posting a comment. I’d enjoy hearing from you!
PS: Look for my forthcoming book publishing soon; Jump from the I-Pod to the We-Pod: Breaking through the Barriers to Essential Collaboration for Business Success.
