Decision making and management go hand in hand. This is easy to do when you are surrounded by data. But what do you do when there is little to no bread crumb trail to follow?
The worst thing a manager could do at a critical fork in the road is not decide and chase down more data.
Let me explain.
A manager needs to see the big picture of everything going on around the team. This will allow the team to focus on completing the tasks at hand. In cases where a decision needs to be made with the lack of data, the manager must polarize the decision to the best of their knowledge. The decision must be black or white when presented to the team. Any grey (yes I’m Canadian) area will lead to confusion and slow the process down.
You are probably thinking to yourself that there is something missing here. You are correct. The key piece to making the gut decision or even a rational one is opening up the decision for discussion amongst the team. Let the team openly discuss and even counter the decision with their own data. The team as a whole will come at the issue from many vantage points. Harness the energy, gather the data and then proceed down the brightest path.
Could you be wrong? Absolutely. But it is better to proceed down a path and learn along the way then to be locked in decision paralysis. If the decision is still unsure, see if there are common tasks that are shared between decision points and work on those first while gathering more data. Otherwise, take the most ‘educational’ path. In the case the new data presents itself and a course change is needed, at least the effort is not wasted.
“But we’re almost done! What do you mean we need to do something different?”
There will come times when data will come late and hint that the direction chosen may be incorrect. A manager now needs to make the tough decision to continue or to stop and regroup. Some risk factors need to be considered.
- “Can we release this as an experiment and gather data?”
- “Is this going to impact the brand?”
- “Will this frustrate our customer?”
These are not easy questions to answer but there are only 3 solutions:
1. It’s good enough. Proceed to completion and gather user metrics on release. Move on to next task while waiting for data. Design v2 as needed.
2. It’s good enough. Proceed to completion, gather user data, continue developing new solution and release as a version upgrade. Accept impact to schedule. Adjust roadmap if needed.
3. It’s totally the wrong decision. Stop, regroup, redevelop, adjust roadmap.
Involve your team in the risk analysis. There may be some quick fixes that can bridge the gap between solutions while the ‘perfect’ solution is worked on. In the case where work needs to be stopped; Will the team be mad? Absolutely. They are going to be as frustrated as you are. But there are two things to always strive for as a leader.
1. To be liked
2. If 1 can’t happen. Be respected.
If either of these cases aren’t in play, the team not engage and will suffer. There will never be the case that you as a manager will always be liked. You will need to force through work that the team does not want to do. That’s ok. As long as you have open and transparent communication with your team, they will understand that you are making the hard decisions in the best interest of the team and company and respect you for it.
Last point to note. If things go awry and fecal matter is hitting the cooling device, take it for the team. You ultimately lead them there. Shield them from the political storm, provide guidance and let them focus on finding a way out of it. They will find a way. But for sure it will happen slower if they are worried about things other than fixing the issue at hand. A team that rises out of these situations becomes stronger, more confident, more effective and trust their leaders. This is the happy place you want to be.
Image courtesy of jscreationzs at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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