Do You Have Debate Deficit or Decision Deficit - Or Both?

Many teams are very good at iden­ti­fy­ing and set­ting aside time to dis­cuss and debate, and to make crit­i­cal deci­sions about a big chal­lenge or a big oppor­tu­ni­ty. And some aren’t.

We gen­er­al­ly see two dif­fer­ent themes in com­pa­nies, depend­ing on their culture:

• A debate deficit when they don’t take the time to debate issues and they build up, over time, like clut­ter in a garage
• A deci­sion deficit when they often dis­cuss and debate but can’t come to deci­sive conclusions.

Both can result in wast­ed time, com­pound­ed and cross-con­t­a­m­i­nat­ed prob­lems and missed opportunities.

While deci­sion-mak­ing isn’t always sim­ple, it is so much eas­i­er with prepa­ra­tion and sched­uled, struc­tured dis­cus­sions. Here’s what we’ve seen work well:

1. Make the time

Carve out 30 to 60 min­utes to lever­age the col­lec­tive intel­li­gence of key peo­ple, in week­ly, month­ly, quar­ter­ly or addi­tion­al project meetings.

1. Define the question

Be very clear on what needs to be decided.

Deter­mine who is respon­si­ble for the deci­sion and who needs to par­tic­i­pate in the debate.

1. Pre­pare the information

Pro­vide back­ground and context:

• Data to back up the issue/​obstacle
• Why it’s impor­tant: The impact, eco­nom­ic and oth­er­wise, on the busi­ness (or parts of the busi­ness) and customers
• The prob­a­bil­i­ty of success
• Risks, depen­den­cy, tim­ing and the need­ed investment
• Poten­tial risks: legal, finan­cial, disruptions.

Antic­i­pate ques­tions that will be asked and ask your leader for help, in advance.

Infor­ma­tion can be in a Pow­er­Point, a one- or two-page doc­u­ment or spread­sheet. What­ev­er form you take, the infor­ma­tion must be clear, dis­ci­plined and enable a struc­tured conversation.

1. 20% data, 80% discussion

Ask one per­son to present the con­text and data in 20% of the time, then ask the smart brains in the room to dis­cuss and debate for the oth­er 80%.

Alter­na­tive­ly, ask the group to read the data in advance and then get right into the dis­cus­sion, or give peo­ple five or ten min­utes to read it in the meet­ing to make sure everyone’s up speed.

1. Make the decision

‘Call the ques­tion’ (Robert’s Rules of Order): Ask for a deci­sion to move ahead.

When every­one agrees, and you can make the deci­sion, and move forward.

When every­one doesn’t agree, you often need to employ the strat­e­gy of ​‘agree to dis­agree’, for the greater good. Those who don’t agree will stay silent and be sup­port­ive of the deci­sion, to move forward.

And some­times, more data, dis­cus­sion or debate may be necessary.

Doc­u­ment the deci­sion that was made and inform all rel­e­vant peo­ple, out­lin­ing next steps.

Tips

• Use timers to avoid time overruns.
• Make sure all and just the crit­i­cal peo­ple are in the room.
• Fol­low rules for debate.
• Use a facil­i­ta­tor when necessary.

The Chal­lenge

• What are the top three deci­sions that you need to make?
• What struc­ture do you have to put in place to get them made quickly?

Want to hear more? Lis­ten to Episode 121 of The Growth Whis­per­ers.

Addi­tion­al Podcasts

• Episode 3: Dis­agree & Commit
• Episode 58: Col­lec­tive intel­li­gence, The Key to a Suc­cess­ful Week­ly Meeting
• Episode 92: Meet­ing Rhythm — The Month­ly Lead­er­ship Team Meeting
• Episode 114: The CEO Has Only One Tool (Meet­ings)

Addi­tion­al Blogs

• Team Meet­ings, Debates and the Pow­er of Bowl­ing Balls
• 12 Tips for Bet­ter Busi­ness Meetings
• No Agen­da, No Attenda

Lawrence & Co’s work focus­es on sus­tain­able and enhanced growth for you and your busi­ness. Our diverse and expe­ri­enced group of advi­sors can help your lead­ers and exec­u­tive teams stay com­pet­i­tive through the use of var­i­ous learn­ing tools includ­ing work­shops, webi­na­rs, exec­u­tive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.

We help high-achiev­ing lead­ers to have it all – a great busi­ness and a reward­ing life. Con­tact us for sim­ple and impact­ful advice. No BS. No fluff.