• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Submissions
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Jun 2, 2023
  • Startup
    • Creating a Plan
    • Funding a Startup
    • Franchise Center
    • Getting Your Office Ready
    • Making Your Business Official
    • Marketing Your New Business
    • Personal Readiness
  • Run & Grow
    • Customer Service
    • Human Resources
    • Innovation
    • Legal
    • Operations
    • Risk Management
  • Leadership
    • Best Practices
    • Communication
    • Green Initiatives
    • Open Culture
    • Strategic Planning
    • People Skills
  • Sales & Marketing
    • Advertising and Lead Generation
    • Marketing Innovations
    • Marketing Plans
    • Online Marketing
    • Relationships
    • Sales Activities
  • Finance
    • Budgeting and Personal Finance
    • Payments and Collections
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Pricing Strategy
    • Working with Investors
    • Working with Lenders
  • Tech
    • eCommerce
    • Hardware
    • Software
    • Security
    • Tech Reviews
    • Telecom
  • Shop

SmallBizClub

Helping You Succeed

taxbandits banner
Home / Leadership / Open Culture / Collaborative Decision-Making on Startup Teams
Collaborative Decision-Making on Startup Teams

Collaborative Decision-Making on Startup Teams

2713 Views

Jan 17, 2014 By Under30CEO

collaborative-decision-making-on-startup-teamsDecision-making on startup teams presents no shortage of potential pitfalls. Decisions may take forever to make. Or team members grow frustrated when they are left out of the process of making a decision. Or decisions are made but not executed and then get revisited. Sound familiar?

 
Decision-making problems often result from a lack of clarity around roles, particularly if your team is larger than just you and a co-founder. Perhaps everyone on the team thinks they’re a decision-maker. Or no one really knows who has authority and who doesn’t for financial matters versus product issues versus marketing decisions.
 
One effective approach for addressing these challenges rests on the following assumptions about decision-making:
 
  • Involvement of multiple people in making a decision helps gain buy-in, but if everyone tries to be ‘the decider,’ nothing gets done.
  • Gaining enough agreement to move forward effectively is a more practical goal than unanimous agreement.
  • Involvement in decision-making should not be a binary choice: either someone is making the decision or they’re left in the dark.
  • Team members can play a variety of decision-making roles: someone should ensure the decision gets made (call her the “driver“); others simply need to be “informed” of  a decision and its rationale, perhaps because they will need to implement it; others should be “consulted” because  of their expertise and/or experience, even though they don’t have the authority to vote; and finally some must have a voice in actually “negotiating” or making the decision, including a select few who have veto authority.
 
Clarifying decision-making roles can prevent the frustration that often results when people expect to make a decision and aren’t consulted; or when a team member provides input and then becomes disappointed when the decision is not the one they recommended. The first step for clarifying decision-making roles is to identify significant, recurring decisions likely to require involvement from multiple people. Think about decisions, for example, on hiring, partnerships, investment, customer acquisition, pivoting, and major purchases. We’ve segmented our decisions into just three main categories: development (i.e. deciding on priorities for new features), design, and business.
 
What if everyone wants to be in the ‘Negotiate’ bucket for every decision? Remind team members of the responsibilities associated with that role. Getting a vote on SEO decisions, for example, might require participation in weekly SEO conference calls. People soon become comfortable deciding which decisions they just need to be informed about, which they should really provide input on, and which they actually need to help decide.
 
Clarifying decision-making roles also helps you decide who should be in meetings or on calls. Simply refer to your chart to determine who should be voting on the decisions expected to be made during the meeting and whose input should be collected prior to the discussion. Consider sharing the decision-making roles in a Google spreadsheet so that there is transparency across the team. The likely result is a more efficient process that leads to effective implementation of important decisions.
 
This article was originally published by Under30CEO
 
Joe Bubman is a negotiation and dispute resolution trainer and coach. For more on these ideas, contact the consulting firm Vantage Partners.

Filed Under: Open Culture Tagged With: Decision Making, Establishing Priorities, Team, Under30CEO

Under30CEO

Under30CEO

Under30Media is the leading media property for educated, ambitious, 20-somethings. We pride ourselves in helping the next generation reach their goals and be successful in both business and in life. Under30Media owns and operates four platforms: Under30CEO.com, Under30Finance.com, Under30Careers.com, and Under30Experiences.

Related Posts

  • 6-immediate-decisions-every-startup-will-need-to-make6 Essential Tips To Improve Business Longevity
  • 3 Principles to Be a Great Business Leader, Not a Manager
  • Developers: How to Choose the Right Team Format

Primary Sidebar

Random

15 Reasons No One Cares About Your Small Business Right Now

May 31, 2023 By Jeremy Bowler

4 Things to Keep In Mind When Choosing Your Next Vehicle

May 30, 2023 By Becky Wilson

How to Compare Guaranteed Investment Certificates

May 30, 2023 By Paul Williams Short

Why Is It Important To Tell A Story In Your Marketing?

May 26, 2023 By Dan Alvin

The Power of Collaboration: Why It’s Essential for Small Businesses

May 25, 2023 By SmallBizClub

Footer

About Us

Small Biz Club is the premier destination for small business owners and entrepreneurs. To succeed in business, you have to constantly learn about new things, evaluate what you’re doing, and look for ways to improve—that’s what we’re here to help you do.

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2023 by Tarkenton Institute, Inc. All Rights Reserved | Terms | Privacy