In our work supporting clients executing growth strategies or transforming major parts of their operating models, we are routinely asked by executives to help facilitate decision-making processes for critical initiatives.
Where projects encounter challenges, we have observed consistent, root-cause issues impacting team decision-making that left unchecked, routinely affect successful value realization. We have identified several tools that have proven valuable to organizations that want to avoid delays (or even avoidance) with timely decision-making in major transformation efforts.
Challenges with Decision-Making:
Our time with 100’s of executive leaders across more than 50 healthcare companies has led us to broadly categorize the general problems impacting timely decision-making in one of two ways:
- Comfort with the Status-Quo – wanting things to remain the same, or
- Fear of Making a Mistake – wanting to avoid making the “wrong” decision
In the first category, leaders are challenged by their teams unwillingness to truly embrace the changes at hand, ultimately wishing to preserve their current state, even after significant investigation, root-cause study and feasibility analysis have been performed. Routintely this gets revealed by words or actions:
Team-members or staff:
- Simply state they ultimately prefer things to stay as they are, often-times ignoring the current business realities or “nay-saying” the proposed changes
- Sometimes struggle to accept that the potential new strategy or solution will present a compelling advantage moving forward
- While acknowledging that the new strategy or solution would improve the organization , they continue to express concern regarding the amount of change or disruption involved
The second challenge we routinely see key stakeholders trying to avoid is “making a mistake” in a key decision. Their efforts to avoid mistakes may be reflected in their requests for more analysis and information to:
- Reduce or eliminate the number of options they think they need to consider
- Reduce the complexity of the decision itself or the amount of information they are using to research and asses potential outcomes
- Reduce the potential financial cost of choosing a specific solution
- Reduce the personal (e.g. reputational) risk or organizational (e.g. opportunity) cost if they choose the “wrong” solution
What Can Transformation Leaders Do To Overcome Decision-Making Challenges:
Here are some tools and methods we routinely utilize that may be helpful to you as an executive leader in overcoming hesitancy or reluctance of key stakeholders when faced with key decisions:
- Analyze the organization’s ability to effectively support the implementation when timely and complex decision-making is required
- How resistant (routinely) are staff and leaders to bold, new improvements?
- How can you invite the team to join the journey and participate in co-authoring the ultimate solution
- How can you “over-communicate” the reasons for the transformation and the “game-changing” results for the company
- Assess underlying sources of in-decision. Try to understand:
- How do team-members and stake-holders request and utilize information in coming to a decision?
- How logical or structured are efforts to evaluate alternatives and different points of view in the decision-making process?
- Is there a point of “good enough” in satisfying questions or concerns with a potential decision and options?
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Key Learning: If there is a continued pattern of hesitation, are stakeholders trying to signal that they may not ultimately be able to, or desire to, come to a decision? |
- Clarify what is needed to come to a decision – try to be proactive in guiding the process and work to streamline inputs and options
- Validate stakeholders have the actual authority to make the needed decision
- Look for signs of “analysis paralysis” and steer the process to a more appropriate approach towards due diligence
- Recognize the difference between procrastrination and avoidance
- Engage directly to understand what is driving delays
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Key Learning: Work to leverage the relationship you have with decision-makers which is foundationally built on trust and credibility and provide real-time feedback and observations on continued patterns of delay or avoidance. |
- Actively engage to limit repeated or cyclical exploration loops – As former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the US Military Colin Powell shared – “making decisions with less than 40% of the information required is just guessing, waiting until you have more than 70% is just delaying”
- Manage the flow of information – repeated requests for more information or analysis can make it more difficult to utilize what has already been discussed or studied
- Anticipate needs and potential objections – be timely in addressing requests and prepared to share alternatives
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Key Learning: Be candid – ask your team-members and other stakeholders to clearly articulate their requests for more information or concerns. Be willing to identify when the decision-making process is going “off track” and work to streamline the next round of discussion or analysis |
- Utilize tools to remove the level of risk associated with the required decision.
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- Create detailed project plans that reflect how the desired outcome can be achieved and value realized – identify key milestones, responsible parties, target metrics, etc.
- Identify ways to generate early “wins” and then scale activities versus trying to execute an all-encompassing and complex change journey – focus less on “maximum impact” by focusing more on “achievable impact”
- Recognize the effectiveness of positioning a “safety net” around the decision-making process instead of “pushing a decision towards a ledge”
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Key Learning: Your team may be struggling because they are more concerned with making a decision that results in them “losing” rather than missing an opportunity that helps them to “win”. |
We readily acknowledge that there is no single solution to overcoming organizational decision-making challenges, but we have found that a structured approach to understand some of the foundational issues as well as the personal risks and concerns leaders are weighing can help to streamline discussions and timelines that may impact our clients change management agendas.
To learn more about our work in helping organizations streamline and accelerate decision-making as part of our Transformation Management practice, please visit our website at www.sunstonemanagementadvisors.comor by sending us an inquiry at info@sunstonemanagementadvisors.com.
