Collaborative decision-making is, simply, when a group of people work together to make a decision. It’s a critical skill for teams to have, as it allows them to make the best possible decisions in any given situation.
Unfortunately, it’s often easier said than done. Increasing collaborative decision-making on your team isn’t always easy, but following the right steps makes it doable. In this guide, we’ll go over some of the best approaches to increasing collaboration on your team.
If you’ve read our article from earlier this week on why you can’t afford to ignore the benefits of collaborative decision-making, you know that it pays off.
If you’re not sold on the importance of implementing these skills, please go back and read that article first.
If you’re already convinced that you’re lacking in these skills and want to move forward, great! This article will give you practical skills and frameworks to do just that.
Building Trust and Open Communication
How to create a culture of trust within your team
Begin by establishing clear and transparent communication channels. This will set the foundation for all of your team’s interactions and establish a positive working atmosphere for collaboration.
Encourage dialogue, open discussions, and listening. Asking questions and actively listening are the backbone of successful collaboration. If you don’t already understand the benefits of active listening, you’re really missing out!
Set up regular, intentional check-ins to make sure everyone feels heard and that there is room for improvement.
Strive to foster a culture of trust in which team members feel comfortable to express opinions and be vulnerable.
Be sure that everyone is held equally accountable and that each person’s contribution is valued.
Furthermore, you need to encourage team members to give and receive feedback, both with each other and with you as the leader.
As the leader, you should set a good example by being open and available to receive feedback, and doing your best to use it to make improvements to the team.
You should also make it clear that offering constructive feedback is an important and valuable part of the team’s development.
To help facilitate feedback, you can set aside time for team members to give each other feedback and for you to give them feedback.
Additionally, you should create a safe and comfortable environment for feedback to be given and received. Make sure that all feedback is offered and received respectfully and with the clear intention of helping each other grow.
If these turn overly critical or negative, be sure to jump and put it back on track. This will keep negativity in check and further build trust within the team.
Tips for encouraging team members to share their ideas and perspectives
Start by creating a safe and inclusive environment for everyone to participate. This is the foundation of true collaborative decision-making. People need to be willing to take risks and voice new ideas.
Encourage and reward ideas, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem. This will show everyone that you’re open to hearing their perspectives and that you take their ideas seriously.
Promote the concept of “collective ownership” for any and all decisions made by the team. This will show everyone that their input is valued and that their opinions and ideas are taken into consideration.
Facilitate discussions that allow for idea-sharing and brainstorming. Make sure that everyone has the opportunity to speak— no matter what level they’re on in the organization.
During these times, be sure to encourage active listening and show appreciation for contributions.
For example, at the end of meetings, be sure to thank everyone for their ideas and suggestions. Be sure to make your appreciation specific and call out ideas that are fresh, risky, or groundbreaking.
You can also use simple brainstorming and other idea-generation techniques.
One popular technique is the “wall of ideas” — this involves the team writing down their ideas on sticky notes or whiteboards and then discussing them together.
Another less common exercise is the “collaborative debate” — this involves the team debating two different sides of a problem or question and trying to reach a consensus.
You might also try a “round robin” — this is where each team member shares their ideas to the group in a loop until everyone has contributed.
Finally, consider implementing decision-making tools like the 6 Thinking Hats and others. These tools help teams see various perspectives on a problem and come to a productive resolution.
Empowering Team Members
How to give team members the autonomy they need to make decisions
Make sure you provide clear expectations, roles and responsibilities for everyone on the team.
Begin by asking team members to define their individual and collective objectives, roles and responsibilities.
You may need to step in here if people are getting off track, overlapping, or not actually focusing on what they need to.
Encourage team members to take ownership of tasks and make their own decisions. This will help them gain confidence and trust in their decision-making abilities.
Represent their decisions and speak up for them in a supportive, non-judgmental way.
For example, if a team member comes up with a creative solution to a problem, don’t just dismiss it. Think critically about it and offer constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement.
Make sure you delegate decision-making tasks to team members. This will show them that you trust their judgment and that you believe in their ability to make decisions
Set limits around decision-making. Make sure team members understand that their decisions need to be within the boundaries set by the team and organization.
If you don’t set limits and boundaries, then later have to come in and shut down discussion or shoot down decisions, it will actually serve to kill morale.
Techniques for providing constructive feedback and coaching
A key part of empowering your team is providing ongoing constructive feedback and coaching. If you’re delegating, you will also be directing their efforts when they start to go astray or aren’t reaching the target.
However, it’s critical that you do this in a supportive manner. Let’s look at some practical ways to do that.
Use the SBI (Situation, Behavior, Impact) feedback model.
This model provides an effective way to communicate the specific actions or behaviors that are impacting the team’s performance or progress.
By focusing on the specific situation, behavior and impact, you can provide feedback that is objective, specific and non-judgmental. This allows team members to understand the specific actions that need to be addressed and how they can improve.
The Situation aspect of the SBI feedback model helps to provide context for the feedback. It allows team members to understand the background and context of the situation.
The situation aspect is important because it helps to avoid misunderstandings and confusion. For example, if you are providing feedback on a team member’s communication, it is important to know the specific meeting or conversation that you are referring to.
Behavior is the key focus of the SBI feedback model. It highlights the specific actions or behaviors that need to be addressed.
The focus on behavior allows team members to understand the specific areas of improvement, and it helps to avoid attacks on the person.
For example, instead of saying “Your communication is poor,” you can say “In the meeting on Monday, you interrupted others while they were speaking, which made it difficult for them to share their ideas.”
Instead of criticizing the individual on a personal level, you’re giving a specific situation and behavior that can be addressed and corrected.
The Impact aspect of the SBI feedback model is all about the effects of the behavior on the team or the project. It helps team members understand the consequences of their actions and how it affects the team’s performance or progress.
For example, “Your interruption during the meeting on Monday made it difficult for others to share their ideas, which slowed down the decision-making process and affected the team’s progress on the project.”
By using the SBI feedback model, you can provide feedback that is clear, specific, and actionable. It helps team members understand the specific actions or behaviors that are impacting the team’s performance and how they can improve.
This kind of ongoing coaching is critical to creating empowered team members who will thrive in a collaborative decision-making environment.
Encourage team members to reflect on their performance
This can be accomplished either through specifically designed check-ins where you elicit feedback from the team member or through a regular rhythm of quarterly/semi-annual check-ins.
This time might consist of a few components:
- Ask for the team member’s reflection of their performance: What went well? What did you not do as well as you had planned?
- Listen and make sure you understand the team member’s perspective. Ask clarifying questions.
- Ask the team member to provide their own feedback and suggestions for improvement.
- Encourage the team member to think about how they can make small changes to their behavior or workflow to move closer to their goals.
- If needed, provide directive comments and feedback.
You might be surprised how much your team members can actually provide their own feedback without you needing to step into the role of giving critical notes on their performance.
Leveraging Technology
After you’ve created an open, trusting, empowered team, you can begin to focus on some of the more nuts and bolts aspects of collaborative decision-making.
Thankfully, there are many technological aids that will help your team thrive in making decisions collaboratively.
Tools and platforms that can be used to facilitate team collaboration
Virtual meeting and conferencing platforms (e.g Zoom, Microsoft Teams)
This might be obvious at this point with the post-COVID work era, but these tools are essential for remote teams. Being able to have virtual face-to-face conversations with your team helps build trust and understanding, which are crucial when making decisions together.
Project management tools (e.g. Trello, Asana)
Project management tools are invaluable for tracking progress and delegating tasks. These tools provide an organized and visual way to track the progress of tasks, and can be useful for making decisions around how best to prioritize certain tasks.
Tools like Asana can also allow multiple people to mark up projects and give feedback, further facilitating collaborative decision-making.
Document sharing tools (e.g. Dropbox, Google)
Tools like Dropbox and Google allow teams to easily share and collaborate on documents. This makes it easy for teams to keep everyone up to date on documents, and to make decisions or provide feedback about them.
For those who are a bit more hesitant to voice their opinions in a large room meeting, documents can provide an avenue for feedback and criticism in a less intimidating format.
Idea generation and brainstorming tools (e.g. Miro, Stormboard)
Tools like Miro and Stormboard are great for teams who are looking to brainstorm new ideas together. These tools allow teams to post ideas in a virtual environment and can be great ways to generate new ideas or to provide feedback on existing ones.
You can even do digital versions of some of the exercises mentioned above on such tools — either in-person or while in a Zoom meeting.
Best practices for using technology to enhance team communication and collaboration
First, you have to establish clear guidelines and protocols for the use of technology.
It needs to be clear who is making decisions and who is communicating with whom. There also need to be some ground rules for interactions and expectations for formality on the platforms.
Then, encourage team members to use technology for communication and collaboration.
Find ways to make it an integral part of the team process, such as by using collaborative tools to track ideas and projects
For example, use the project management tools to tie everyone’s tasks together, or the brainstorming tools to log and trace ideas. This will help ensure that everyone’s ideas and feedback are being accounted for in the decision-making process.
Even with the above, you have to make sure that people aren’t on the other side of the so-called “digital divide.”
Provide training and support for team members to effectively use the technology, especially those who might not be as familiar with new tools.
It’s just as important to help those who are intimidated by Zoom as it is to help those who relish in it.
As a leader, it is your responsibility to ensure that everyone is equipped to properly contribute to collaborative decision-making through these technological assets.
Conclusion
It is essential for leaders to foster an environment of trust and collaboration in order for teams to make decisions collaboratively.
The SBI feedback model and reflective check-ins can help team members understand their performance and how they can improve.
Technology can also be used to facilitate team collaboration and communication. By leveraging the right tools, teams can easily share and collaborate on documents, generate new ideas, or give feedback on existing ones.
Leaders have to provide training and support for team members to effectively use the technology, and set clear expectations and guidelines for the use of the technology
By combining the right technology with the right practices, teams can make better decisions and be more successful.
Collaborative decision making is the cornerstone of any successful team. It allows for different perspectives, ideas, and insights to be shared, leveraged, and used to solve complex problems and make better decisions.
As a leader, it is on you to foster an environment of trust and collaboration in order for collective decisions to be made. Utilize some of the above approaches to begin that journey for you team.
Are you wanting someone to walk with you through your journey in growing as a leader who facilitates collaborative decision-making within your team? Our trained professional coaches are ready to help you today.
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