How NOT to decide…

I recently encountered a business that is  to be about to make an easy, even classic mistake.  They need to change their structure and get clarity on the the key roles & responsibilities and rather than starting with “What are we as a business trying to achieve?”  and then asking “What is the best best way to achieve this?”  They are trying to carve up their ‘empire’ based on who is there, who wants to do what and who will get upset etc.  This a typical and easily understood fudge.  “George is good at this and weak at that… lets give him this bit, then Daphne can handle ….”  The trouble is this almost certain to fail.

What they need to do is work out how the business needs to be controlled, what skills and experience that takes and then see who is up to the task and if the answer is “No one” then they need to coach or recruit appropriately.

They are also trying to make another key business decision based on personalities (or rather their assessment thereof).  It is politically explosive and possibly commercially important.  What they need to do is avoid the minefield of the ‘your face doesn’t fit’ by setting clear criteria and having a robust process for assessing these so that everyone feels they had a fair crack of the whip, and they ensure that only people who are truly capable pass through their filter.

It is human nature to avoid conflict and work, but successful businesses know when they need to ‘bite the bullet’ and take tough decisions.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 18th, 2016 at 08:00 and is filed under Hints, Tips & Techniques, Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.