If You Want Better Decisions, Hold Better Meetings

We all know that working together to reach a decision usually makes the decision a better one. Think of the company that gathers representatives from all the relevant functions before deciding to attack a new global market. They simply have a better chance of taking the right steps and avoiding pitfalls if more people are involved in thinking things through.?But we often find that the time we spend in the meeting making the decision is fraught with difficulty. We can get bogged down in creating a collective understanding of the problem, making sure we have the full analysis that supports each alternative, or even figuring out when to call the question.?

Surveys show that executives find their meetings ineffective, but among those unproductive uses of time, decision-making meetings top the list. Why? Decision making meetings are about managing risk, requires a good understanding of both the known and unknown risks, and choosing a path forward with certain gaps in knowledge. It is much like being the first one stepping out on a rope bridge.?You have the wood plank and the two ropes, three points to keep you aloft, but the swaying can make you sick.

We can manage that decision making anxiety by constructing our meetings using a facilitated approach. We like to think about the 6P’s of preparation, and when they are executed correctly, at least some of the “sway” can be taken out of the decision-making process. Let us consider the 6P’s in a decision-making setting:

• Purpose – everyone in the room, and those outside who are affected by the outcome of the meeting, must have a clear understanding of the problem. People talk about this as defining the purpose, but we like to think of this as defining the critical question…” If we answer this question, we can end the meeting!”
• Product – people sometimes feel that a good set of notes are what is required from a decision meeting. How about trying to figure out what you want people to be thinking about, or how you want them to feel at the end (like “I was heard,” or “I can support that”)? We believe that the product should be something that you can describe in the beginning of the meeting. When everyone has a roadmap, they can help drive toward the endpoint you have already established and take some of the burden off you! ?
• Participants – not only do we need to have the right people in the room, but they also need have the right roles assigned to support the decision after it has made. We need to define who are the decision makers (it is not everyone at the meeting, so it is important to be clear), who are the SME’s - supplying information to enable the decision to be made or consider alternatives, and who is going to have to figure out how to implement the decision.?
• Probable Issues – No one likes surprises in meetings. We believe that it is best to ask everyone what they believe the probable issues at the beginning of the session, if not before the meeting begins. Knowing how every person sees the issues that need consideration for the session makes sure that there we can get the right information into the decision room.
• Process – decision meetings often get bogged down in a discussion of a particular hot button issue. Turning decision making meetings into facilitated sessions can ensure that the meeting moves along, hearing all sides of the issue, redirecting points that are not germane before they cause derailment, and structuring activities that drive to a decision before the time for the meeting runs out.
• Place/Platform – meetings can occur anywhere, but in this new world where some people are face-to-face and others are virtual, leveraging facilitation skills become crucially important. Virtual participants need to feel as though they are in the room and those who are physically present need to feel that the virtual participants are not an afterthought.

Everyone is looking for a way to make better decisions. Better meetings lead to better decisions. Better meetings happen with facilitation. If you have not done it before, it is time to Level Up your facilitation skills.