Connecting People for Success

The most interactive approach to teaching the essential building blocks for team success. 

Decision Making  Models

Creative Problem Solving Models

Key Models for Transforming Team Performance

Rigorous decisions are the mission critical decisions that define the direction of the company’s activity.  Major investments of time and money are at stake with these, so it’s important to make sure options are evaluated thoroughly.  The right people are taking an objective look at data and sharing open, honest perspectives to assess the assumed risks and consequences the decision will have on the company.

(Ref Strategic Decision Group)

Three levels of decisions are differentiated to ensure the team has understanding that the TYPE of decision drives the selection of a tools to make the decision.   Over time, the group will gain a better understanding of what specific work related decisions apply to each category.

Reflex decisions are the common ones that are driven by the values and priorities of the company/department.  Since these are often delegated to others in the organization, it’s essential to ensure the group has shared understanding of the driving forces behind these decisions.   Team agreements is our strategy for managing these decisions to maximize efficiency, build trust and integrate company values and strategies into everyday decisions.

Conscious decisions are at the heart of team execution.  Strategic direction gets translated into specific actions pertaining to the WHAT and HOW choices that will have profound impact on the group’s results.  Collaborative processes ensure that diverse interests and perspectives are shared to make the “best” decision that all team members are willing to support.

(Ref www.CommunityatWork.com)

Thinking from the Future is an empowered approach to solve people related “problems”.  Stop spending so much time looking back at everything that ISN’T going right and focus on a desired future state that inspires and energizes you and your team. Clarifying “why” this future state is important to you is essential step in building real commitment to making the necessary changes to get there.  The more challenging step is an accurate assessment of our current situation.  Use some objective measures and include assets and issues to round out the picture.  Can you imagine trying to plan a trip to London without knowing where you are starting from (location, finances, travel assets, etc.) or when you wanted to arrive? 

Complex Problem Solving requires a more analytical approach to ensure that the group or individual is focused on the right question at the right time.  The biggest issue many teams I’ve work with have is JUMPING TO SOLUTIONS.  For this reason, we teach a facilitated approach to methodically stepping through the problem to ensure:

 

A) We solve the RIGHT problem

B) We really understand the cause of the problem

C) We avoid going with the first idea

D) We make sure solution gets implemented successfully