Team Decision-Making Part 1

A high-performance organization is built on productive teamwork. It is essential that teams make decisions effectively and efficiently. In this newsletter, we will explore how to improve team decision-making.

 

Barriers to Team Decision-Making

• Limited experience together
• Conflicting member goals
• Not sharing information
• Competition: "My idea is better than yours."
• Agreeing too quickly before critical discussion
• One or two people dominate
• Group is too large or too small
• No one takes the initiative
• Low trust
• Limited time

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Listening, Learning & Improving Part 2

Performance Appraisals

The Performance Appraisal Discussion

Actively Listen

• Don’t interrupt!
• Do Clarify
• Do Paraphrase
• Do Problem-Solve

There should be no surprises!

• Regular performance meetings with employees will ensure that surprises are avoided

The Performance Appraisal Discussion

• Make sure that it is a discussion and not a lecture!
• Make sure that the employee participates
• Make sure that there is clarity in terms of the issues discussed and the action points that come out of them
• Get Signed Agreement on the Appraisal and on any action plans

Positive Framing is Dependent Upon

• Tone and Pitch
• Body language
• Language
• Structure of the sentence

If There Is Disagreement

• Listen to the Employee’s Opinion
• Assess Any New Information as Appropriate
• Should the Employee not Agree to sign the Appraisal - document this fact
• The Employee can choose to add an addendum or rebuttal - this should be signed also by your manager and HR representative
• Sign and date the Appraisal including any rebuttals

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Who Called This Meeting Anyway? Part 2 of 2

Last time I talked about when you should hold meetings, having a clearly-defined purpose, and establishing a set of meeting norms.  Here are some more suggestions for ensuring a well-run meeting.
Work from a well-prepared agenda: 

• Review agenda 
• Read minutes from last meeting
• Review action items from last meeting
• Conduct new business
• Share information  
• Plan next meeting  
• Evaluate meeting  

Keep good minutes and records. 
The purpose of keeping minutes is to ensure continuity from one meeting to the next, increase personal accountability and the implementation of team actions, maintain an historical record of the team's progress, etc.  Usually one person is assigned to write the minutes and does so by capturing the basic ideas or essence of each topic discussed as well as any commitments, actions, or decisions made.  The minutes are usually sent to people prior to the next meeting.

Designate clearly-defined meeting roles.  There are three major roles to ensure that meetings are efficient and effective: 

• The Facilitator conducts the meeting. 
• The Recorder keeps minutes and records. 
• The Observer pays attention to team dynamics and process and tries to encourage open participation from all team members.

Utilize discussion skills

• Contributing - people share opinions, ideas or information
• Listening - members must feel safe/heard to be open with opinions
• Clarifying - let people know if you do not understand something
• Expediting - bring closure by calling for a decision or action
• Focusing - "Let's get back on track" or "Are we ready to move on?"
• Gate-Keeping - encourage equal participation by all
• Testing for Consensus - summarize and check for agreement before making decision

Until next time...

Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/