[RBM] How to own the stage during the decision-making meeting.

Okay, we finally reached your dreamed point of final decision. If you do everything right and take care in various subjects, it's highly possible that your proposal will be accepted. At this point, you need to take two last steps. Set up the decision meeting first, and then prepare for it. Let's look around for purposes and best practices around this meeting.

First of all, why do we need a formal meeting? The purpose is simple, we have to get decision makers together with recommenders. We review what we agreed with other engaged sites and confirm they agree with what we need to start the modernization process. We also want this meeting to result in a public statement of "Yes, we agree to do this" from decision makers. After such meeting we will be able to send meeting summary to all sites and say - let's start implementation.

An absolutely crucial aspect of meeting is to make it your stage. Then you need to prepare a formal agenda, agreed with all invitees. You should also be moderator of this meeting. Remember that meetings should be short, and the purpose is only for confirmation, so don't set too much time for discussion. This is not the appropriate stage; all discussions have already been made, and this will be only an overview and an opportunity for a brief discussion.

In part of a short summary, do a quick executive summary type presentation to show all essential aspects - it should be 5-7 slides without too much text. It's like a pitch deck, and you shouldn't spend more than 10 minutes on it. After this review, you can open formal agreement discussion. Walk around every decision maker and ask for a short 2-3 minute presentation about his decision and why he made it. It can influence others. Always be cautious, and avoid getting negative decisions based on a lack of understanding. This is the last moment to say - sorry it was included in our project.

This is a time when homework from your side needs to be done correctly. Speak with each decision maker before the meeting and make sure they understand what you're saying. If yes, and they are still against your proposal, try to get as many reasons as you can and inform others with counterarguments for this if you have them. You can also try to locate them again, postpone the meeting, and fill in the blanks again. It will be difficult to bring this subject back up if the decision is negative. Then be sure everything that can be addressed was addressed before.

After a round of decisions, you should summarize them. When you get a positive decision, you know what to do with it! It's time for your idea to be implemented, and you are the most qualified person to control it. Be sure not to delay the start of works longer than is formally needed - a budget line may need to be opened, for example.

If you get a negative decision - sorry, it happens. If you validate all aspects, ask all the difficult questions, validate all paths and options, but still get a negative response, it may indicate that your organization is not ready for modernization. It is mostly a cultural issue that is very difficult to resolve. In such a situation, there are two ways.

You can give up and change yourself - to fit into company culture or just change organization - sorry, the world works this way. Alternatively, which is much more challenging and much more undervalued, you can implement small changes that maybe some day will show that change was needed. Work on this type of project that does not require high level agreement.

Okay, that's all from my series. I will provide a short summary of all articles, highlight the most pertinent points, and offer a surprise addition to the whole series.

Don't hesitate to share my newsletter to others and buy me a coffee if you appreciate the series ;)

#decisionmaking #RAPID #RBM #modernization #decisionmeeting