Podcast Key Takeaways in “Better Decision Meetings”
In To unlock better decision making, plan better meetings, research has shown that top executives on average spent 40% of their time in making decisions and 61% believed at least half the time spent on decision making meetings was ineffective.
- 4 Common failure mode of meetings
- 4 types of roles in decision meetings
- 3 common ways to improve decision meetings
In short, there are four failure modes of meetings. One is that you don’t make a decision. Second is making a poor decision. Third is making a slow decision and the last one making a low-commitment decision.
It’s also interesting to note there are four roles in such meetings: the decision makers, advisers, recommenders and execution partners.
- Decision maker(s) are the only ones with a vote and the ones with responsibility to decide as they see fit; if they get stuck, they should jointly align on how to escalate the decision or otherwise get the process unstuck, even if this means agreeing to “disagree and commit.”
- Advisers give input and shape the decision. They have an outsize voice in setting the context of the decision and a big stake in its outcome — for example, the decision might affect their profit-and-loss statement. But they don’t have a vote on the decision.
- Recommenders conduct the analyses, explore the alternatives, illuminate the pros and cons, and ultimately recommend a course of action to the advisers and decision makers. They see the day-to-day implications of the decision, but they also have no vote. In general, the more recommenders the better in the process — but not in the decision meeting itself, as noted in the exhibit.
- Execution partners don’t give input so much as get deeply involved in implementing the decision, and therefore they must be informed. For speed and clarity, you will need the right ones in the room when the decision is made so they can ask clarifying questions and spot flaws that might hinder implementation. Notably, the number of execution partners doesn’t necessarily depend on the importance of the decision. An M&A decision, for example, might have just two execution partners: the CFO and a business-unit head.
Three ways to improve decision making meetings:
- Number one is to make it at the right level. Do not constantly escalate decisions up to the most senior levels for approval. Also, don’t delegate decisions too low in the organization. You have to figure out what is the appropriate level for this decision to be made and who should be involved.
- The second is to make sure the people making the decision are very clear on not just their own siloed goals and targets but also the enterprise strategy.
- Make sure that you get commitment from the people who need to be involved, who are either affected by the decision or who have to help execute it.
More to read from https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/to-unlock-better-decision-making-plan-better-meetings
