Strategies for Effective Decision Making for Scaling Agile

“If the decision-making process is flawed and dysfunctional, decisions will go awry.”

As the world is moving at the fastest pace it becomes necessary to go with the same wavelength. Today we can see everyone or almost 95% of people in the market are practicing agile methodology. The product owners and managers try to conquer team-level agility at the very first step and ask them to stick to schedule and process for agility but while doing so they are unable to hold themselves to similar standards when it comes to decision making. Executives and managers after acquiring team agility focus mainly on scaling the enterprise agility. They forget that recent scenarios are all about being agile, in project management and decision making.?Most times it happens that everyone focuses mainly on project management agility but forget to maintain and even learn the strategies for agility in decision making. Thus, causing executives and managers trouble while scaling the agility. Scaling involves rethinking and retooling instead of just reengineering processes or organizational structure.

There is a common belief that the more and faster the data, better the decision-making is- which is true to some extent. But we also must know that with newly acquired and more data it should also be a new way of decision making. The executives and managers need to skip the traditional ways of decision-making of getting in the room and hashing things out using riddle-based information techniques. Executives are first and foremost decision-makers so they must first manage their discipline of decision-making process similar to agile teams manage their projects. They need to have visibility, speed, and collaboration in decisions making right for lean and unstick enterprise agility.

Some basic strategies agile executives must use to scale decision making are

Thrive for uncovering good-enough information

In fast pacing business world, the data-driven teams in businesses are flooded with conflicting insight and complex information. Information, where complex decisions are required, is generally distributed across departments and individuals who like to play politics within. This results in the resort of decision-makers to cherry-picking and oversimplification in their quest for decisiveness. To avoid any conflict and delay and to obtain relevant and quick information try to flip the discussion on them. Instead of asking for the required information ask them what they don’t know and see if that missing information is important, then get it if possible if not they make a note for further risk and requirements. This will focus mainly on good enough information and also increase buy-in by surfacing and addressing the team's concerns.

Those who can gather information quickly are always at least 10days earlier in decision making than others. And the good enough information helps in faster decision making.

Uplift decision-making metrics to mission-critical

Decisions are the important steps in businesses but are the least measured ones. Executives most of the time spend their valuable amount of time on measuring and improvising the results obtained from the decision rather than finding how decisions are made.

So executives and managers must use decision tracking metrics in their organization. Focus more on how decisions are made and look out for the biased point that decreases their decision-making ability and take steps to improve them. After tracking decision-making processes and results use it further for improving future decision making. Visibility in decision-making works most of the time so try to have decision-making visibility at all levels.

By doing so you can surely obtain well-reasoned, less biased, and reduced bad calls of decisions.

Establish Decision driven feedback loop

Never take the decision and forget, because decisions are opportunities to learn and do experiments. Once a decision is made put a tickler to follow it up to know the results obtained. There both success and failure will teach you something for sure. Fast forward feedback loop results in a most compiling decision-driven result in every business. It helps in improving and changing the confusing aspects of the processes. Following up strategic business decisions series will redirect to ineffective strategies and cut months to market.

Every executive and manager must know that “The first one gets the oyster the second one gets the shell.” To get the oyster it is necessary to be quick in their actions but firstly about their decisions.

About Advance Agility

We, at Advance Agility, are the new-age Agile Coaching, Consulting and IT services company. We enable end-to-end Digital Transformation. Agile execution is integral to our being. We are doing SAFe implementation with small, medium and large organization across the globe. Our vision is to be the leading Agile execution player globally. To keep adding value at every process stage. We are on a mission to empower our clients, move from concept to cash in the shortest sustainable lead time by adopting human centric approach to business agility. Embracing the change is in our DNA. Things that keep us apart are Quicker and Seamless execution with End-to-end gamut of services. Our Global presence and Stellar Track Record give us an edge over our competitor.

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