Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to make sure everyone who is involved
Speaker 1: in a decision knows his or her role in that decision,
Speaker 1: so you can make decisions faster and avoid hurt feelings.
Speaker 1: This tip, like another one this week, comes from Michael C.
Speaker 1: Mankin's and Eric Garden's book Time Talent Energy. Mankins and Garden,
Speaker 1: who are management consultants with Baine, offer tips to help
Speaker 1: business leaders make the most of their actual human resources,
Speaker 1: that is, the people who are doing the work. One
Speaker 1: way to do this get better at making decisions. If
Speaker 1: you have ever been in a meeting where people were
Speaker 1: stumbling around trying to reach consensus, especially if it was
Speaker 1: clear who gets to make the actual decision, well it
Speaker 1: might have been a little frustrated. These time wasting gatherings
Speaker 1: tend to happen because people don't know what role they
Speaker 1: are supposed to play in a decision. If you think
Speaker 1: about the process, there are a few common roles. Some
Speaker 1: people are there to offer input, advisory opinions based on
Speaker 1: their expertise. Some people are there to recommend, to argue
Speaker 1: for a specific course of action. Others are there to
Speaker 1: agree that something can be done, that is, that it
Speaker 1: is legal or technically feasible, and some people are there
Speaker 1: to decide. Others are there to perform, that is, to
Speaker 1: implement the decision once it's made, with their presence at
Speaker 1: the decision being mostly about seeing what's going into it.
Speaker 1: In a slightly different order, these roles to recommend, agree, perform, implement,
Speaker 1: and decide form the acronym rapid. The upside of assigning
Speaker 1: these roles for rapid decision making is that everyone knows
Speaker 1: how they are expected to contribute, and equally important, how
Speaker 1: they are not expected to contribute. So if your role
Speaker 1: is input, for instance, you will draw on your knowledge
Speaker 1: to share how you think the possible options could play out,
Speaker 1: but you know that you are not the one making
Speaker 1: the actual decision. If your role is to recommend, well,
Speaker 1: you can argue for something you won't keep your good
Speaker 1: ideas about the best approach to yourself, but you will
Speaker 1: also realize that someone else will ultimately decide what route
Speaker 1: to take. And if three of you are in the
Speaker 1: decision role, well, you know that you are aiming to
Speaker 1: reach consensus with those people and not with others. Someone
Speaker 1: else's argument for or against something is interesting, but you
Speaker 1: don't actually need to win that person over. Clarifying people's
Speaker 1: roles and decision making is good for efficiency and morale.
Speaker 1: People fill the roles the organization needs them to play,
Speaker 1: and they understand how they're being asked to contribute. Everyone
Speaker 1: knows how the decision will be made, rather than awkwardly
Speaker 1: attempting to dance towards consensus, and no one feels devalued
Speaker 1: because they thought they had a role in making the
Speaker 1: decision but their voice went unheard. So the next time
Speaker 1: you are part of a decision making process, get clarity
Speaker 1: on your role. Ask how you are supposed to be
Speaker 1: contributing to the decision, and if you are in charge,
Speaker 1: make it clear to your team how each person is
Speaker 1: going to contribute to the decision. Don't be settled about this.
Speaker 1: Make sure everybody knows his or her role and its
Speaker 1: value to the team. Then when it is time to deliberate,
Speaker 1: your team members will understand how to work together well.
Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod.
Speaker 1: That's b the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com that Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. I can't
Speaker 1: ge