As a team facilitator, you need to guide your group through various stages of decision-making, from defining the problem to evaluating the outcomes. How can you discuss decision-making processes in team facilitation effectively and constructively? Here are some tips to help you.
Before you start a discussion, you need to understand the context of the decision-making process. What is the goal, scope, timeline, and criteria of the decision? Who are the stakeholders, and what are their needs and expectations? How will the decision impact the team and the organization? By clarifying these aspects, you can set the direction and boundaries of the discussion, and avoid confusion and conflict later on.
Having the objective clear in your mind is essential to a successful decision making session. Flipping the initial ask and querying ''if we don't do anything, why is that a problem?'' can help frame the situation without solutionising. If the decision needs a binary solution (yes or no) you will need authorised approvers in the room who can execute on the process outcome. If the decision needs analysis you will need subject matter experts and critical thinkers in the room and you must ring fence the scope carefully. If the decision is time critical and the deadline is imminent you need people, in the room, with the ability to represent alternative potential futures and advocate for or against decisions and their timely consequences.
Depending on the context, you may need to choose a different method of decision-making. For example, you may use consensus, majority vote, delegation, or expert opinion. Each method has its advantages and disadvantages, and you need to consider the trade-offs between speed, quality, and buy-in. You also need to explain the rationale and process of the chosen method to the team, and ensure that everyone understands and agrees on the rules and roles.
Facilitation methods each have specific pros & cons. Facilitate your way and ensure you believe in the value of your chosen methods. Decision making requires that you engage and leverage the wisdom and neurodiversity of your meeting attendees. Getting buy-in for the methods you run with is a balance of two factors: the process & the quality of the outcomes. It helps to trial run or simulate the process very simply, for anyone who's unsure of its demonstrable value. E.G. Majority Vote - voting with hands up is explicit, personal and drives high accountability but some feel it's conceptually naive and school-like. Playful simulation is a great practice run; promotes a team dynamic and can reduce anxiety.
As a facilitator, your role is to enable the team to share information, generate ideas, analyze options, and reach a decision. You need to use various skills and techniques to facilitate the discussion, such as asking open-ended questions, summarizing key points, paraphrasing feedback, encouraging participation, managing conflict, and testing assumptions. You also need to monitor the time, energy, and mood of the group, and adjust your approach accordingly.
Here, it's important to ensure that all members of the group participate. Often, silent members have great ideas that remain untapped because no one actively seeks it out. As a facilitator, one should ensure everyone is heard out for the benefit of both the team and the task.
Your facilitation process or method of choice will have it's own pros & cons. The content of a meeting & that meeting's value are driven by you selecting the right tools *plural*. It's essential to have a toolkit at your fingertips and be willing to pivot to a new tool if the current one falls flat. Adjusting for maximum interaction, as you go, is essential. As is monitoring everyone for their engagement level. Explain the process you want the group to follow, gauge the group's interest, explain why and how outcomes will be used, gauge the group's interest, describe a working example, gauge interest, explain the process again and ask, are you happy to start? Wait for questions and as you wait, monitor for any quiet rebellion.
Once the team has made a decision, you need to document it clearly and accurately. You need to record the decision statement, the reasons, the alternatives, the criteria, and the action steps. You also need to communicate the decision to the relevant stakeholders, and solicit their feedback and support. By documenting the decision, you can ensure that everyone is on the same page, and that there is no ambiguity or misunderstanding.
Any documentation must be tailored to the intended audience. Length and breadth of post-session documentation will ideally have been pre-agree with stakeholders. Additionally the file-save location and file sharing permissions must be pre-agreed. A decision statement must have mutual agreement, by the end of the session or a new session / extension date and time is needed. Alternatively Advocates and Detractors, of the decision, are documented as such. Certainly the attendees' names, from the actual session, must be documented. Decision ambiguity can come from one or more subjective recollections of an event; documentation avoids this pitfall.
After the decision has been implemented, you need to evaluate the outcome and measure the results. You need to compare the actual outcome with the expected outcome, and identify the gaps and discrepancies. You also need to collect feedback from the team and the stakeholders, and assess their satisfaction and engagement. By evaluating the outcome, you can learn from the experience, celebrate the success, and improve the process for future decisions.