There Is No “Right Solution”
What makes for a great solution? First, understand that there are real alternatives to solving a problem. Teams at all levels in an organization fall into “analysis paralysis” because they fear making the wrong choices. Instead, focus your team to find the best solution that takes into account the following factors…
1. What is the urgency?
The greater the urgency, the more willing your team should be to act.
2. Are the problems understood sufficiently to make a sound recommendation?
Again, this is not turning over every stone, but making sure there is a consistent enough understanding by the entire group to come to a sound decision.
3. Does the solution address the problem?
Once a decision has been made on how to solve the problem, teams have already spent way too much time discussing the issue. There is a “fatigue factor” that comes into play, with the collective group losing focus whether the solution still lines up with the problem.
To combat this fatigue, get to a solution with as little process and brainstorming as necessary. With a reserve of energy still in people’s battery, validate the solution against the defined issues. Tweak the solution and check again. Treating this as an iterative exercise will yield greater results than spending too much time hashing over the issues. With this approach, you will end up with a better solution in half the time.
EACUBO 2009 – Bringing Departmental Support into the 21st Century
Here is the presentation from my talk last month at EACUBO, which I delivered with Brenda Ricard from Boston College. Thanks to all who attended.
Communicating Bad News
Breaking down communication barriers is no easy task, and it opens the classic question of what comes first, the chicken or the egg? Management is waiting to hear what’s really going on while staff is waiting to hear it’s ok to communicate breakdowns or bad news. (This, by the way, is not the same as complaining, which is communicating bad news with no commitment to action.)
Organizations are often left with the “blame game” being played out over every missed deadline or poorly rolled out deliverable. Here’s what management needs to realize – your staff will not take the step of communicating bad news unless you explicitly demand it of them. For staff – you may never get explicit permission from management to stop filtering bad news. The good and bad news? Regardless of your role, the ball is in your court.
