In the YouTube video How Companies Can Make Better Decisions, Faster, Marcia Blenko, leader of Bain & Company's Global Organization Practice, talks about decision effectiveness and the impact it has on the financial success of a company (Blenko, 2010). She also talks about the positive correlation between decision effectiveness and employee engagement and overall organizational performance. I believe, to effectively make and execute decisions that will be successful, employees must become participants in the decision-making process. Brown talks about some of the important tools needed for change and one of them is information (Brown, 2011). He tells us that an organization must provide employees with information or the resources to gather information. He explains that this important because “making information available at every level increases employee motivation and permits faster decision making. This helps employees to identify with organizational goals” (p. 67). It only makes sense that decisions will be made faster and more effectively if everyone is onboard and everyone knows what is happening. It reduces the likelihood of obstacles and resistance and paves a clearer path to a final resolution.
Blenko (2010) talks about some of the impediments to good decision-making. First of all, companies have become more complex. She explains that it’s not as simple as looking at an organizational chart. Sometimes it’s difficult to pinpoint who the key decision-makers are in today’s businesses. This ambiguity makes it hard to decide who should be involved in making decisions. She also explains that the decision makers may not have the right information or maybe they lack the skills or correct behavior needed for effective decision-making. Therefore, this can lead to a lack of communication which creates obstacles in effectively making the critical decisions.
Blenko lists four components that define decision effectiveness: quality, speed, yield, and effort. I also feel that another element that would define good decision-making would be commitment. Once we decide the level of effort that is needed to effectuate the decision, we also need to decide on the level of commitment that we are willing to provide. A decision can have the right quality, be executed efficiently, yielded how we intended and with the right amount of effort; but, we also need to make sure we are giving it the proper amount of commitment. This can also go the other way. Once we have reached the point where the decision is ready for implementation, if a sudden change in the situation were to occur, where the decision is no longer the correct decision, we need to have the commitment to bail out if it is in the best interest of the company. Under extreme circumstances, good leaders must know how to be flexible and take the needed risks if necessary. Carl Spetzler, CEO of the Strategic Decisions Group, also explains that there must be a “commitment to make it happen” by all participants of the decision-making team “since a decision is no stronger than its weakest link” (as cited by Girard, 2009)
My take away from this video would be the importance of making employees participatory in the decision-making process. I believe that we cannot just leave top leadership in charge of something that affects everyone. Employees from different departments will have different perspectives to offer, and may be able to troubleshoot some aspects of a problem better then someone from top management who is not hands-on. Brown explains that “to implement a program of planned change, the management must first identify a gap between the current situation and some desired condition” (2011, p. 88). Employees that participate in critical decision-making, may have the knowledge to fill in the holes and bridge that gap since they are the ones that probably have first-hand knowledge of the problems within the organization. Also, employees may be more invested in a solution since they are more likely to be affected by the issues on a daily basis. In making important decisions, an OD approach that I feel would be most effective would be the pathfinder approach. The pathfinder seeks effectiveness at an organizational level while maintaining high employee morale. The pathfinder believes “that greater effectiveness is possible when all members are involved and problem solving is done through teamwork” (p. 92). I am a true believer of flattening hierarchical structures within an organization and therefore feel employees should be at the pinnacle of the decision-making process.
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