Managing Stakeholders

 Managing Stakeholders  

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)
 

As we discuss the importance of developing project management skills to get things done in addition to functional expertise as we move up the career ladder, 80 % of the tasks are non-repetitive or project nature, and we may need to deal with many people who may not be directly reporting to us.

We discussed the relevance of project management principles in functional management, such as defining outcomes, reducing complexity into simplicity, holistic planning, and big-picture orientation.

The next principle we can learn from project management is “insights on managing stakeholders.”
 
What is managing stakeholders?

In any complex business task, many people will get involved directly or indirectly, and their influence will affect the outcome. Project management insists on stakeholder management as one of its components.

Stakeholder management is all about managing the people of varied interests/expectations who will affect the project outcome. It could be  involve them early, making them partners, communicating with them appropriately, and creating relationships. This management skill will help us to navigate the project successfully.

How can functional managers apply this insight?

Any initiative or task you do will need the support of others beyond your functions. The success or failure depends on the extent of collaboration we have with others. The others are stakeholders. They may have little interest in the initiative, or it may affect them or do not want it to be implemented.

Our management skill is to align all stakeholders to get things done.
 
For example,

Assume that you are the planning head and made a plan by coordinating sales and operations. In reality, things will go differently than planned, and you must change the plan frequently. When you change the plan frequently, it will affect the many stakeholders in the system, and they will get upset with the frequent changes.

In this situation, balancing the big picture of customer's order delivery and unexpected changes in a plan,  how you manage many stakeholders, and finally getting things done will be the testimonial of your stakeholder management skill.

Some of the tactics highly  effective people use to manage stakeholders, as i observed

1. Think and identify the people who will  benefit and be affected by the initiative
2. Approach and brief them in a personal and professional way about the purpose of the initiative and get their support
3. Make the stakeholders as team members 
4. Keep them communicated about the progress frequently so that they are not surprised and also feel included 
 
 To summarise,
we must develop the ability to look at the stakeholders beyond our circle and make them inclusive by communicating with them appropriately and building relationships.
 
When we develop stakeholder management in any task, the likelihood of getting things done will be high.

Have a great week ahead!

How to manage energy during challenging times?

  How to manage energy during challenging times? 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)

 

We are discussing the methods by which effective people stay energetic in the workplace, enabling them to get things done efficiently.
 
One of my friends asked a question that is relevant to this topic. The question is, " Not all days, things will go as we wish. How do we manage high energy levels when the situation is unfavorable?" 

True...Not all days, things will go as we like. Situations like customers firing us, colleagues or junior colleagues in agitation mode, conflict with peers, or inordinate delays in getting things done due to beyond our control lead to disappointment, anger, and frustration.

How do we maintain a high energy level, at least, to be in a balanced mood?

Experts in emotional intelligence suggest the practice of self-regulation.
 
Self-regulation means the ability/ skill to deal with our emotions calmly and deliberate about how we want to show up at work and move on.
 
One of the self-regulation practices is Acceptance.
 
Acceptance :

Acceptance of situations or people is a very powerful self-regulation practice.

For example, imagine a situation where you must meet your customer to propose solutions for a problem, and your important colleague is much more familiar with the subject than you need to accompany you. Last minute, he/ she withdraws from participation for silly or manageable reasons. You are wondering whether it happens by chance or by choice of a colleague whom you do not like much in general.
Now you need to face the customer independently and get the proposal acceptable. Else it would affect your creditability. That is reality.

Would you get upset with the situation, worry about the outcome, blame or get angry with your colleagues for last-minute withdrawal, feel helpless to manage alone, or accept the situation and colleague as such?

We often do not accept and tend to go against reality, putting more pressure on our peace.

When we accept the situation and acknowledge the feeling, we can mentally manage the situation relatively well. Acceptance will give you the mental strength to think about the next step.

In contrast, when we do not accept the situation or people as such, we are still in the mode of negative emotions, which further drains our energy level.

Misunderstanding about Acceptance:

Acceptance does not mean that we have given up and accepted the mediocre. It is all about grounding ourselves with reality, acknowledging the negative emotions at that moment, and preparing ourselves to think about the next actions rather than fighting against reality.
 
Is it easy to be in an acceptance mindset always?

It is not easy for all to accept the situation and people. However, when we practice in small events, it helps us to manage higher challenges in the workplace.

For example, when you are stuck in traffic, are you accepting the situation calmly or blaming/being restless? Those are the moments that test our acceptance capability.
 
That awareness of Acceptance is a self-regulation practice to be at a positive energy level.

Let us discuss some other self-regulation practices next week.
 
Have a great week ahead.

Work with passion

  Work with passion 

(Execution Excellence -"Ability to get things done" Series)

As we discussed how we could enhance our energy level in the workplace to inspire and influence others to get things done, we discussed some of the practices by effective people, like self-compassion, responsibility, and starting the day with leisure rituals. In line with this, the next ultimate energy booster is doing the work with passion.

The meaning of passion is a strong liking, love, desire, or devotion to something.

Doing anything with passion or love will boost your energy level, which you might have experienced many times in the workplace. Passion comes only when we know that our work aligns with our higher purpose and values. Some people are gifted enough to find their passion at a young age and find a career in line with it. They do what they love.

However, in reality, it is different for all people. Finding and doing work wholly aligned with purpose is rare. They have to love what they do.

For them, it is essential to realize two things.

1. first, realize that every work has an inherent purpose and contributes to others, the organization, and society.
2. they need to find meaning in their work by changing the perspective of the work itself.

How to find meaning in work?

How we look at our work changes the perception of our work. In turn, it kindles our passion. one of the following popular stories will relate to it.

Once three people were working on the bridge construction. The stranger approached the first person and asked what he was doing. The person said, "Can't you see i am laying stones?." The stranger quickly moved on to the second person and asked the same question. The person replied, "I am working on my income to care for myself and my family."

      The stranger moved on to the third person and asked him what he was doing. The person replied smilingly, "I am building a bridge; once the bridge construction is over, many people will pass on. I am helping others to move fast. This bridge will be here centuries after I am gone."    

       This is a well-known story, and the profound message is that how you look at your work with a higher purpose makes a difference in your quality of work and life. Irrespective of our profession, we are doing our bit to benefit others. 

When we realize the purpose of our work in the big picture, the work will enhance our energy level in the workplace.

The key point is to do what you love or love what you do... You need to get high energy from work. People follow the person who demonstrates high energy and enthusiasm.

Have a great week ahead...

Managerial style Vs. Team's decision-making capability

 

  

One of the concerns most business heads/managers have is how to bring the problem-solving and decision-making capabilities among the team?

This genuine concern comes from the reality that they spend more time giving instructions/ decisions on many routine tasks as people approach them and also from the feeling that they could not devote time to significant problems or value addition where they can only do it.

The concern needs to approach from two aspects. One is on more profound education or awareness of the importance of problem-solving competency, methodologies, tools, and techniques. Learning to some extent helps the team to improve their problem-solving & decision-making abilities.

However, as a second aspect, to a large extent, it is the business head/manager’s managerial style that determines the organizational environment for the team to take the lead on problem-solving and decision-making in any situation.

Hence the first aspect can be more straightforward than the second aspect of relooking the manager’s style of getting things done.
 
For example, consider the type of managers/leaders we might have come across in the organization.
 
Category 1:

The type of managers/leaders who do not want to hear any problem or bad news and used to say to the team, “Don’t bring me the problem only, come with solutions.”Sometimes they spend time with the team to resolve the problem. They display both distant and friendly behavior towards problem-solving. Uncertainty in predicting the behavior.

In this environment, the team is likely reluctant to take the lead in solving the problem independently and clueless about the expectation of problem-solving and decision-making.
 
Category 2:

The type of managers/ leaders who enjoy solving the problem themselves. Their pride is in solving an issue of any kind and operating with the belief that their core responsibility is to solve the problem irrespective of assigning ownership. 

Likely, in this environment, the managers will resolve all the issues, and the team will be open enough to escalate the problem. They think problem-solving is all about escalation to the boss, and the scope for enhancing problem-solving and decision-making competency will be limited.
 
Category 3:

These managers/leaders believe in the larger goal, define the escalation process and ownership, good at delegating and empowering the team to make decisions. They pitch only when there is an escalation to their level and is also disciplined enough to make the people accountable for the task through clarity and periodic reviews.
Likely, in this environment, people are reasonably good at problem-solving and decision-making and enjoy learning more from the boss.
 
In all the categories, the managers/leaders have a good intention of getting things done, and no one will resemble the same type all the time; it will be a combination of all styles depending on the situation.  However, what category or style one demonstrates most of the time determines the team’s problem-solving and decision-making capability.
 
If the managers/ leaders are aware of their style, delegation, communication process, and change in style lead to change in the organizational environment for enhancing decision-making capabilities among the team.

We can talk about some of the strategies for each type of category next week.

Until then, you relate to your managerial style in most of the time and how good your team’s capability in problem-solving and decision-making.
 
Have a great week ahead.

Steps in the structured problem-solving process

 Steps in the structured problem-solving process 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

Having discussed the definition and type of problem (Adhoc or chronic) one needs to solve at the workplace, we need to learn the structured way of solving the chronic problems.

 
What is a structured way of solving chronic problems?
 
Unlike emergency or firefighting situations, all chronic problems can be solved step by step logical process. We are sure to move towards permanent or practical solutions to the problem in each step of the logical process.

What does it call for?

The structured approach calls for data analytical skills, the ability to look at the big picture and micro-detail, the ability to get the insight and narrow down to the causes, decision-making skills, and more than above the ability to get the collaboration from all the stakeholders to implement the solutions.

Since structured problem-solving competency is a combination of multi-skills, only a few people take effort to learn and become masters in applying the holistic approach.

Steps in a structured problem-solving approach?

Since there are many problem-solving processes available in the market like Six sigma, QC approach, A3,8D, all the approaches lead to solving the chronic problem in a structured way. The tools and formats may be different, and it is up to the individual to learn and master any approach.
 
Ultimately all the approaches consist of the following step.
 

• Prioritizing the problem
• Defining the objective
• Collecting the data/ facts
• Understanding the insights from data /removal of noises
• Converging to causes
• Articulating the actions -short / medium / long term perspective
• Taking action and checking the effectiveness

Developing a comprehensive understanding of the problem-solving process as a capability will enhance your managerial skill to get things done and career growth.

Let us discuss some of the insights in each step next week.

Have a great week ahead!

Which problem do we solve MORE?

 Which problem do we solve MORE?  

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)
 

 

Having discussed the definition of a problem from a professional perspective, let us understand what types of problems need our attention MORE  in a professional environment.
 
There are two types of problems we always face in the workplace. One is Adhoc nature, which calls for quick fixing and the solutions are predominantly emotions-based with little logic. The solutions are not necessarily preventive.
 
The other problem is repetitive nature and looks like part of our life, and this problem needs to be fixed predominately with the logical conclusion. The solutions need to be preventive.
 
For example, at a personal level, when we get sudden health issues, we may not overthink it, and we use to take some pain relievers / any other pills and move on. Sometimes the solution also works well. This problem and solution are called Adhoc problem-solving. 

If the same health issue is repeated frequently, the same pain reliever/ pills may not work, and it may also bring other complications. This problem is called a chronic problem. These repeated health issues or chronic problems call for structured diagnostic and treatment, which is more logical, and the solution may be a permanent cure. That is a structured problem-solving process.
 
In the same way, in a workplace, when we relate to our day-to-day decision-making to solve problems, it could be either an ad-hoc problem or a chronic problem.

Which type of problems do we solve MORE in the workplace, ad-hoc or chronic?
 
In some organizations, as i  observed, people are always busy with delivery-related issues, which in my opinion, is a chronic problem. When the potential chronic problems are not solved structured, that will become day-to-day firefighting problems.
 
As a manager or leaders, our time and presence are required for solving chronic issues that need a more structured process of problem-solving, which calls for broader participation and decision making rather than spending most on ad-hoc problems. When we are growing on the career ladder, we suppose to solve more chronic issues than managing firefighting or ad-hoc issues.
 
We need to be aware of our decision-making activities on whether we are solving ad-hoc or chronic problems for most of our time.
 
To solve chronic problems, we need to be familiar with the structured problem-solving process and discuss it next week.

Have a great week ahead.

 

Understanding the term "problem."

 Understanding the term "problem." 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)
 

As we have been discussing problem-solving and decision making, before going into the problem-solving process and its insights, let us have clarity on what we mean by the term "problem" in the professional context.

The term " Problem " is interchangeably used to refer to challenges/issues/troubles/difficulties.

What do we mean by "problem" in a professional context?

We are desiring or expecting something, and the current reality is different...there is a gap between expectation and reality, and the gap is nothing but PROBLEM.

For example,

You want to earn "X " amount as salary, and you earn less than "X," there is a gap ..that is a problem to be solved.
You desire to grow your business by 30 % every year; in reality, you are growing only by 10 % every year..there is a gap between your desire and reality..that gap is a problem to be solved.

Likewise, you can look out any gap between the desired level and current actual status as a gap and consider it as a problem.

Why this term understanding/clarity is required?

When we have precise clarity on the definition of a problem from a professional or business perspective, it will help us narrow or define the solution objective quickly. Otherwise, we struggle to progress on the problem-solving approach.

For example,

one of the business heads mentioned that he has people problems in his organization. The people problem could be excess / scarcity of people or skill or behavioral or integrity related. When you express people's problems, that would be generic, and no progress will be on it.
Later on, when we clarified the definition, he articulated that his people are loyal and good; however, he expected the team to take independent decisions in his absence. In reality, the team does not make decisions without his guidance. That is a gap that makes it easy to move to the next step in problem-solving.

When you have clarity about your expectations on any aspects and relate to existing reality, you define the problem precisely as this will help move to the next level of the problem-solving step.

We need to articulate the problem or understand the problem from desirable / expectation vs. reality to get clarity.

Let us discuss some other aspects of the problem-solving process next week.

Have a great week ahead.

Problem defining trap in decision making

 Problem defining trap in decision making 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

As we have been discussing the thinking trap and how it affects our bias in decision-making, one more thinking the trap is "Problem defining trap."
 
What is meant by a problem-defining trap?
 
In a daily situation, defining the problem or narrating the situation determines our decision-making quality. When the same problem is defined in two different ways and informed to you, you will react in two different ways, leading to right or wrong decision making.
 
For example,

You are offered a coupon by online purchase, and it says that you can redeem anytime; you may not react to redeem immediately as you decided to redeem later. In contrast, the offer is said to be redeemed within three days; you decide to redeem it immediately as you inherently do not want to take the risk of losing something.

You are reacting or making decisions based on how the statement is defined.
 
Similarly, if your customer gives orders to your organization and says that you will get more orders in the future if you deliver on time. You may be doing your best to deliver on time but not too desperate to complete on time. Alternatively, if your customer says that you will be penalized in terms of LD charges if you are not delivering on time, your reaction and decisions would be too aggressive to finish the order on time as you do not want to go through pain.
 
We are reacting to how the statement or problems are defined and presented to us.
 
The key learning is how we are defining the statements or defining the problems that eventually determine our decision-making capabilities.

In one of my client organizations, management had poorly reacted to union representatives when they asked for wage revision in absolute terms and ended up with some in-house layoffs and work stoppages. When i reframed the wage increase in terms of proportional value to future sales potential, the management realized that the union's demand was nothing to worry about as the net increase was small compared to sales.

Most of us get into the trap of looking at the problem in fixed ways and get into the thinking trap.
 
How can we overcome this defining trap?

1. When you are confronting problems, try to practice not to accept as defined by you or others; try to reframe or redefine the situation and look at whether the decision approach is changed or not. That will give you a clue that you are working on a poorly defined problem.
2. When somebody makes a decision, always examine how they framed the problem and challenge their assumption or the definition of the problem. That way, you will learn to look at the problem differently.
 
Awareness is important as we stick to the problem statement narrated to us, which may lead to the wrong decision-making approach.
 
Let us discuss another trap next week.
 
Have a great week ahead!
 

why do we make wrong decisions? (contd..)

 why do we make wrong decisions? (contd..)

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

As we have discussed some of the thinking traps that affect our decision-making ability, the next one in this thinking trap series is "looking for confirmation -evidence for our original thought."

What is meant by looking for confirmation evidence for our thought?

We biased our decision-making towards our initial thought even though there are contradictory views or data against our views. We seek people who favor our thinking and even interpret any information according to our thought.

For example,
you would like to purchase an electric vehicle and almost decided to go ahead with an electric type than IC engine. However, you are seeking information from your colleagues. Most of them are against electric vehicles at this moment, citing logical apprehensions like lack of adequate charging facilities, lack of knowledge on maintenance, service support and cost.

Since you have already fixed your mind towards the electric vehicle, you would not listen to any opinion against the electric type or look for a favorable response in line with your initial thought. That is the trap of looking only for confirming evidence for our original thought.

Sometimes we tend to interpret the information according to our initial thought.

There is an old story that goes like this.

In a classroom, a teacher wanted to give a message to the students that consuming alcohol is not good for their health. He demonstrated by taking a glass of alcohol and then putting some insects inside the glass, and eventually, insects died. He said to the students," Look, the alcohol kills the insects; hence it is not suitable for our health.One student stood and said," Sir, I have some insect trouble in my stomach, so by consuming alcohol, i can come out of the trouble, hence consuming alcohol is good for health!".

That is looking for confirmation by interpreting the message as one likes.
 
The key line, what you want to hear, you will listen to that, and even we distort the information according to our thought. That is the thinking trap.
 
In the organization setup, we always seek information or go to the people who would like to endorse our views or decision, which may affect the decision-making quality.
 
How can we overcome this thinking trap?
 

1. We need to ensure whether we give all the options equal weightage or give high weightage for our initial option as ultimate. Awareness of emotions and rationality is key.
2. We can weigh our options with many pros and cons than confining with one option; for example, In the electric vehicle purchase case, just i want to buy to be trendy and be open to other pros and cons of purchasing. That openness and flexibility will help to make the right decisions.

 
Let us discuss other thinking traps next week.
 
Have a great week ahead!

Why do we make wrong decisions? (contd..)

 Why do we make wrong decisions? (contd..)

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)


 

We have discussed two thinking traps, "giving excess weightage to first information," "not to disturb the status quo," which affect our decision-making quality. The third thinking trap is "justifying past choices even though it is irrelevant."
 
Justifying the past decision even though it is not relevant now:
 
We continue to make decisions based on past choices. Even though we believe that we make rational decisions, we sometimes fall into the trap of justifying the past decision even though it is not relevant now or future. Economists term this decision-making behavior as sunk cost fallacy.
 
For example,

Assume that you have booked a ticket for a movie of your favorite star before releasing. After the film is released, you are getting more negative reviews about the movie, and your logical mind realizes that the movie is a flop.

Will you decide to go with your earlier decision of watching the film as you already booked?

If you decide to drop to watch the movie despite your advance ticket booking cost, you are not falling into the trap of sunk cost fallacy.

If you decide to go and watch since you do not want to waste your invested money, you are in the trap of sunk cost fallacy.

Similarly,

In a stock market, our tendency to average the stock, which is continuously falling. That decision is sunk cost fallacy. We hope that we recover the past investment.

Most of us get into this sunk cost fallacy in decision making, not only from a money perspective, even from the time and efforts we spent on something in the past. That is why in the organization, we use to justify some of our people's mistakes and build decisions over them repeatedly because we have invested our time and effort with them.
 
Why do we get into this thinking trap?

Internally, we do not want to admit our mistakes or accept the failures and try to cover up the old errors with new efforts or decisions. That is the nature of us.

How to overcome this thinking trap?

1. Even smart, logical decisions sometimes go wrong. Failing is not a sin, but building over the past mistake and making decisions to cover up may lead to blunders which we can avoid with awareness. We need to accept the failures as part of our decision-making process in personal and professional life.

2. Reward yourself and your team for the process of decision-making with available data then, rather than punishing for the outcome. We need to realize that we are making judgments based on some assumptions, and the outcome depends on the various factors. The ability to distinguish between the process and result will help you accept some of the failures in the decisions.
 
When we make decisions, we are driven by various emotions and need to be aware of those emotions to make better decisions. Awareness is key.
 
Let us discuss some other thinking traps next week.

Have a great week ahead!
 

Why do we make wrong decisions?

 Why do we make wrong decisions? 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

We are discussing the thinking traps which affect our quality of decision making. Last week we discussed the thinking trap of "giving excess weightage to the first information." The second thinking trap is " Not to disturb the status quo."

 
The term "status quo" can be defined as preserving the existing practices or doing comfortable things.
 
We believe that we make decisions logically, but our mind prefers to preserve the existing practices or comfort when we make decisions.

For example,

we prefer to go to the office on a fixed route and timings;
being comfortable to deal with a few chosen vendors/customers/banks or people in the business;
having lunch or free time chatting with a few colleagues;
choosing a fixed seating location in a meeting or training session;
sticking with fixed agenda in regular meetings.

We hesitate to disturb what we feel more comfortable to us. That is the nature of our thinking process of not disturbing the status quo.
 
Why do we have the thinking of sticking on to comfort?

The source for sticking to the status quo or comfort is our internal ego or fear. When there is change, there will be some challenges; we need to take responsibility, there will be some actions that may be favorable or non-favorable, which may affect our status. That is why we prefer to stick to the existing situation as much as possible.

That is the reason when you drive some new initiatives in the organization,it would become a challenge as generally, people do not want to disturb the existing way of familiar working to new way of working.
 
 
How to overcome this thinking trap?

• As long as the status quo is not affecting our personal or our business objective, no need to change. Alternatively, if you realize the objective is not achieved due to sticking to the status quo, we need to change it. That awareness or clarity between current status vs. goal is required.
• We need not conclude that the existing status quo is the only option available. We need to be open to multiple options, which can be practiced by asking what else in every decision-making situation.
• Constantly evaluating the cost-benefit analysis in any options against the status quo will help change the perception of sticking to the status quo.

We need to be aware of thinking traps while making decisions.
  
Let us discuss some other thinking traps next week.
 
Have a great week ahead!

Why do we make wrong decisions?

 Why do we make wrong decisions? 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

As we have been discussing "making effective decisions," research says that even though we are equipped with many decision-making processes, tools, and techniques, we are psychologically trapped in our thinking process, which affects the quality of decisions we make in our personal life and professional lives.

 
Let us discuss some of the psychological thinking traps in the coming weeks, as the awareness of the same will help us make better decisions.
 
One of the most common thinking traps is "Giving excessive weightage to first information" and taking decisions based on it.

For example,

when we meet a person for the first time, we form an internal perception based on the dressings, tone, ascend, or physique. We make decisions based on it. Later on, the reality may be pleasant or unpleasant. That is the thinking trap of giving excessive weightage to the first impression.

similarly,

When we intend to buy a product or property, we may not know its real value. When the seller initiates the price by stating X, we will decide to purchase or negotiate around the value of X only, and the probability of thinking Y is very low since we are anchored too much on the FIRST Information.

When we set the annual sales target in the organization, either the team will go by last year's performance or the past 3 / 5 years average as the mind is anchored to the first-hand information rather than looking beyond.

That is the thinking trap in decision-making.
 
How to overcome the thinking trap of giving excessive weightage to first information?
 

1. Being aware of our thinking trap when we make important decisions.
2. Doing some work beforehand and getting others' opinions so that we may not be confined with only one piece of information. ( some of us do!) for example, as in buying a product at a given X price, do research and get comprehensive data about the product to avoid the anchoring trap.
3. Going beyond the past or first information – for example, as in sales target example, rather than working from the past, set the target based on the business's market potential.

 
It is natural to get into the thinking trap, and being aware of it will help make the right decisions in personal and professional life!
 
Let us discuss some other thinking traps next week!

Have a great week ahead!

How to overcome decision dilemmas?

 In a professional environment, except for routine decisions, many of us get into the decision dilemma. The dilemma is whether we can decide in a given situation, despite sufficient data points and assumptions available. Internally fear of making wrong decisions puts us in a dilemma.

In this process, neither we make decisions nor be peaceful as non-decisiveness puts us in a disturbed state. How do we get the clarity or courage to overcome the dilemma?

For example, consider this situation.

You are head of manufacturing and received a message from your customer that they rejected the recent consignments and would impose the penalty if not replaced quickly. As this situation may typically happen, you can manage on your own. However, you have a dilemma whether you need to inform your boss or not.

Even though the problem is manageable, you have a typical decision dilemma. If you inform your boss, he may get angry with you. If you do not notify your boss, you can avoid the immediate pain of emotional drama. In case if your boss comes to know the issue at a  later stage, he would perceive it as an integrity issue, which may be much painful for you. That is a decision dilemma.

Similarly, as a manager or leader, you may have decision dilemmas in many instances like whether to recruit a person for a key role or not, whether to give feedback to a non-performer or not, whether to accept a new assignment or not. You might have come across many situations wherein you stuck to making decisions.
 
Here, we need to get clarity of our decision vs. consequence by weighing many outcomes.

The simple tool of decision vs. consequence will be helpful to overcome the dilemmas.

 

 As in the above example, if you decide to inform your boss about quality issues, you can list down all the positive and negative consequences. Also, when you decide not to inform your boss, you can list down all the positive and negative consequences. When you list down all the probable positive and negative consequences of "informing" and "not informing," you may get clarity on which path to take.

This simple tool will help to think clearly to overcome the decision dilemma.

We have a mix of emotions that puts us in a dilemma that we can overcome with rational evaluation by correlating decision vs. consequence.

You may try next time when you have a decision dilemma!
 
Have a great week ahead!

i am good at rational decision-making!

 i am good at rational decision-making!

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

As we have discussed some of the myths of decision-making, most of us have one more misconception: "believing that i am good at rational or logical decision-making." 

In a professional environment, as a manager or leader, we firmly believe that we make decisions based on the facts, logical conclusions upon data analysis, and structured evaluation of pros and cons. It is not true, and many psychology studies proved that finally, emotions overdrive logic.

Our decisions are driven mainly by emotions which sometimes lead to mistakes or substandard performance.

For example, you might have encountered an experience when you wanted to purchase any gadgets or home appliances. You might have set the budget, decided the mode of purchase, browsed, verified with many people, and decided to buy a particular brand or product. However, at the last moment, that decision might have been changed just by one adverse information or news about the brand /model or even a solid positive opinion about an alternative brand or model by someone close to you. All your logical thinking and  decisions were collapsed just by one emotional feeling of "not to be on the wrong side."

I have a personal experience that one of my books was selling reasonably well on Amazon with positive reviews till one anonymous buyer gave an adverse comment about me and the content. Post that review; there was a considerable reduction in the sales performance. The reason could be the reader's buying decision is biased towards "not to be on the wrong side." Logically readers should go by the count of positive vs. negative comments, but reality would be biased to the latest negative comments. That is the power of emotions over any rational or logical thinking.

So, since emotion is so powerful in our decision-making process, we need to be aware of our state of mind when making important decisions in a professional environment like taking calls on people, business expansion, investment, reacting to customer's complaints. Any impulsive decisions we take in an extreme emotional state will lead to a wrong or negative consequence.

The next option is to defer the decision when we are highly emotional.

Awareness is required on emotional state when we make a decision!

Have a great week ahead!

How does decision-making improve self-confidence?

 How does decision-making improve self-confidence? 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

As we are discussing the myths about decision making, one of the myths is that self-confident people are capable of making decisions as they are sure in their thinking process to select the right choices. It may be partially true as naturally, the decision-making is obvious for them.

In reality, not all people are confident in all circumstances. One finding says that 85 % of people suffer from low self-esteem, affecting communication and decision-making capability in the professional environment. How to improve the confidence of those people to make better decisions?

In my personal experience, whenever i  struggle with low confidence in any aspect, i use to make decisions and then act on them in a small way; eventually, it improves my confidence. 

The process goes like this. When we decide to work on any issues, there is always a 50 % probability of success. That probability of success will give positive reinforcement to take slightly higher-level decisions and actions. Inturn that likelihood of success leads to making even more higher-level decisions and actions. In that way, an individual can increase confidence.

For example,

Most of us have fear in public speaking or stage fear to communicate the idea or present. When you decide to crack and plunge into action by addressing a few of your known colleagues or friends, you positively reinforce speaking in a small gathering.

Next time, when you decide to do it in a larger audience of known people, your subconscious mind pushes positively, as you already demonstrated in a small group. So, you can make it relatively easy.

Next time, when you decide to do it in a larger audience of unknown people, your previous decision and success positively push you to do it well.

 By doing so many times, your confidence in public speaking improves as you primarily decide to do it.


Hence, when you make a small series of decisions and actions in any professional challenges or workplace issues, the probability of success makes you a more confident person rather than being a confident person makes you a good decision-maker.
 
As a professional, the more you motivate yourself to take a series of minor decisions and actions, eventually, that will make you more confident in your professional life.
 
Have a great week ahead.

"i need to be efficient in decision making."

 "i need to be efficient in decision making."

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

Last week, we discussed a misconception and reasoning behind  " indecisiveness," there is one more misconception, which is quite opposite of indecision. That is urge on "i need to be more efficient on decision making."
 
According to this mindset, we measure our efficiency as the speed of making decisions and the quantum of decisions we take every day. Compared to inactiveness, efficiency is relatively better, however, what matters for managers and leaders is effectiveness—the impact of the decisions on others and the business.
 
For example, consider this situation.
 
In one of the organizations, the business head is engaged and busy in instructing the team on many trivial issues like approving the leave application, fixing the connectivity issues by calling the relevant agency, and so on. Despite having an excellent team to do all mundane decisions and actions, he seemed fulfilled when he engaged himself in many trivial decisions.

Eventually, he is getting decision fatigue. Most of the critical business decisions like streamlining delivery, productivity, and supply chain decisions are not being taken by him, which he only can take decisions in the organization. The urge and practice of involving and jumping into all decisions eventually affect the organization's prospects.
 
When you are growing, it is expected to make impactful decisions than the speed of the decisions, even in trivial issues.

I have witnessed one of my ex-colleague who was considered a bright candidate at a young age due to his speed in making decisions and making things happen. When he was promoted to senior management level, he eventually lost his creditability due to his impulsive decision-making style in many initiatives, which backfired against him and the organization.
 
Except in emergencies, quick  / speed decisions are not required to solve chronic issues or any strategic future-related challenges. 
 
Having the idea of being efficient by making fast, more decision-making is just a misconception. It just needs awareness!

As professionals, we need to be aware of our effectiveness by making impactful decisions that we can only take.

Have a great week ahead.
 

Key learnings on developing conflict management competency

 Key learnings on developing conflict management competency 

(Emotional Management for Personal & Professional Growth Series)

As we have discussed the various aspects of developing conflict management competency in a professional environment for the last 12 weeks, let us summarize the key learnings before moving to a new topic.
 

• When you are growing up on a career ladder, one of the key competencies you need to develop is conflict management competency. Competency is all about how you are getting things done from a diverse group of people and at the same time maintaining a cordial relationship.
• The diverse group would be your boss, your customer, your colleagues, or your direct reportees.
• The conflict or difference arises on thought process, values, looking at the problems and solutions methodologies. Sometimes due to misinterpretation of communication and the tone itself.
• The difference arises in the workplace since others come from different backgrounds, look at the problems from different perspectives, have different priorities, and inherent issues like fear of facing challenges, failures, and personal securities. Once you understand the causes of differences, you tend to accept them as part of your professional activities rather than personal differences.
•  We have discussed the three dynamics of conflicts—Power, Goal, and Relationship. The effective way we manage the power, goal, and relationship, we become better in managing the conflicts. Awareness of that combination and its effect determine the right approach to deal with the difference. 
• When you are growing up, your power also goes up. Power means the ability to get things done. Effective people look at power as an opportunity to guide, help, facilitate others when they encounter conflicts.
• When you have a conflict with juniors, you can use a compassionate approach in which you educate, guide, and convince them to get things done and earn respect from others. Alternatively, you can choose a constructive dominant approach when you feel others cannot learn or go against organizational objectives.
• When you have a conflict with equal power, say with your colleagues, you can think of a higher purpose that makes you more powerful than others.
• Generally, effective people listen to others to understand other’s perspectives, give the third dimension to the problem, and try to settle third angle solution, flexible to change the views if it serves the higher or organizational purpose. They take Parent-child, Teacher-student relationship patterns to solve the conflict with anyone.

When we look at our life journey as success or failure, that will have a strong relationship with how we deal with the conflict WITHIN ourselves or WITH OTHERS at some point in time.

That awareness and striving to learn the conflict management competency will help manage any conflict.

The key focus for any manager or leader is to get things done and maintain the emotional balance with self and others.

Let us discuss a new topic next week, and have a great week ahead till then!