Weekly Management Tips
Words of wisdom for this week.
“When a decision has to be made, make it. There is no totally right time for anything.”
George Patton
One of the biggest mistakes both new and experienced managers make is making top-down decisions which impact lower levels, departments or individuals within the organization without discovering a bottom-up perspective on whether or how those decisions will work in the long term. Time and time again in my consulting with clients, I have seen top-down decisions arrived at in the board room or on the golf course, implemented without any regard for the reality that existed within the organization. The effect of this approach when it comes to decision making, these top-down decisions can negatively impact:
- Morale
- Communication
- Performance
- Loyalty
- Turnover
- Customer relations
- Profits
- Sales costs
- And a whole lot more.
I am not suggesting that every decision made in an organization, department, division or group should involve every employee’s concerns, attitudes, problems, wants, issues or needs. I am, however, suggesting that if you want to get buy-in, acceptance and ultimate success of your decisions, it is important to develop a strategy or management style that includes the reality of bottom-up feelings, attitudes, concerns and real world corporate, market and competitive issues.
The people who are closest to the customer, market place problem, issue or vendor are in a much better position to know what will work and what won’t. To ignore their valuable upward feedback is to flirt with disaster. Here are a few thoughts to consider the next time you need to make an important decision which will impact customers, employees, vendors or your position in the marketplace.
Ask yourself: who will be affected by this decision?
Set up a team of employees to provide real world feedback on the issue or problem.
Do you really have enough accurate information (bottom-up) to make a good decision alone?
Bypass your immediate level of employees and get to the workers who will implement this decision. What could their responses be?
Don’t assume the message you are getting from other managers is accurate.
Set up a system of accountability to determine why decisions work and why they don’t.
If you will implement even only a few of the above suggestions you will find that your decisions might not be different or better but their results and outcomes will be.