As a manager, you are expected to make decisions based on the information you have. Why you? Just because you are the manager of the team. Is it possible that someone else in your team has more capability to make this decision? Has more information to help you make this decision? Might be, but you are the one that the company is paying for to take the decision, and you better do it.
Does it mean though that everybody else is unimportant in the process of the decision making? To some people, unfortunately, it is. I have had enough managers that took decisions based on what they knew or thought is correct and not on what the could’ve know. Had they just invested the curiosity and time to ask others, their decisions might also been correct. Yes, you are expected to make decisions fast, yet you are expected to make the right decision as well.
Debating Decisions
Whenever a new team member started working as part of my team, it was almost a cultural shock for them. I have spent quite some time in team meetings and any other discussions making sure that people are heard. I ensured that opinions are shared, especially those which are different from my own. I didn’t do this for the sake of any artificial sense of inclusion and diversified opinions. I truly wanted to hear everyone to ensure that I see the entire picture.
For me, the best way to do this was to actually push my team members to either strongly agree with me or disagree with me. “Explain to me why am I wrong”, I said multiple times and listened carefully. Well, not always carefully – I argued back with team members that said things I was in disagreement with, and they argued with me. The fact that I am actively pushing people to disagree with me and answer back was sometime astonishing to some, painful to others, but eventually everyone got it.
It's OK to Take Someone Else's Opinion
In multiple situations, I’ve taken a step back and said “you are right”, and made the decision based on my now changed opinion. This empowers team members, this makes them feel that they are making an impact, it makes them feel valuable and important. And they are. They’ve changed the decision, we’re moving forward with THEIR opinion. Not always it happens, but when it does, it is a witn for me.
You are the team manager not because you’re smarter than your team members. Unfortunately for you, you are the manager because you are trusted to make the right decisions. You are expected to gather the information as fast as possible from everywhere and make those decisions fast.
Of course, not every discussion needs to become an argumentation, a debate, but the most strategic ones, the most important ones, that impact the product, each and every team member and our day to day life – usually makes sense to become a debate.
My most proud moments were when I asked “am I right?”, someone who was a newcomer not so long ago would say “actually, I disagree with you”. This was a proof that this person is no longer a newcomer.
A Debating Team is a High-Performing Team
When two rocks are tumbling against each other in a tumbler, they become gems.When the most important, strategic, impactful items on the agenda are discussed with passion and without fear of retribution – everyone benefits. When the “big stuff” is debated in a way where everyone has an equal voice around the table – you get clarity and you actually get loyalty to the decision. First, everyone understands the decision and why it was taken, even if they disagree. Second, it makes people passionate about these decisions, it makes them feel the important, valuable, valued team members they really are.
When people understand how a decision was taken, and they feel that they had the chance to impact it, they feel easier to stand behind it and commit to executing on it. We do not need robots in our teams, we do not need yay-sayers that go do what you’ve told them to do. Well, maybe not just because they report to you. You want them to go out there and execute with extreme motivation.
And they are. This is not a game I am playing. I truly believe that I need to listen, even if I come to the table with an already made up mind. Maybe I’m wrong? I cannot do my job if I don’t consult with them, and the best way to consult with them, in my opinion, is to disagree with them.
This is, for me, how I make my team members passionate around each and every strategic and important decision we’re taking, and this is how I am ensuring that we are always at the top performance we can be at.
How are discussions taking place in your role? Are you being consulted? Are you being disagreed with? Are you expected to just follow your leader and agree with everything they say? Don’t be a stranger – come disagree with me in the comments below!
