1-22-10 Decisions, decisions.......

I was sitting in a meeting one day. Yep, I used to do that a lot. I mean A LOT. Heck, who am I kidding, that WAS my job --- sitting in meetings. But I digress.

Anyway, the stated purpose of this meeting was to come to a decision on which company we were going to work with on a new work package. All of the appropriate people, the decision makers from the various departments, were in the room. I was the one selected to lead the meeting -- at least from the perspective of giving the presentation that would give the leaders the facts they needed to make the decision. Of course, I had my recommendation -- that is what I was paid to do -- research the possibilities, present the information, and the recommendation. On the surface, it appeared to be a pretty straight-forward meeting. Present the information, debate the various points, and come to a consensus on the way forward.

Man, was I wrong!

We spent the next 2 hours going over the information and debating the issue. Seemed like a pretty normal meeting. Except I kept detecting an odd undercurrent from the guy that was the ultimate influencer in the meeting. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But I did observe that anytime someone put up objections to his view, he was quick to bat down (or slap down is probably more illustrative) their statements. Particularly if someone was trying to back an alternative work package or company. Now you have to understand that, for this group, vigorous debate was a normal process for coming to a decision. However, this seemed to go way beyond what was normal.

As the meeting wore on, and one-by-one the concerns or objections were shot down, we ultimately agreed with what the ultimate influencer wanted to do. That is when I noticed the facial expression of the chief influencer. You have seen it before, I’m sure. It was that self-satisfied smug smile. Argh. I finally realized that we had wasted those 2 hours --- not to mention all of the prep time I had put in on this project.

This influencer had his mind set and the decision made before we even walked into the room. The entire meeting was a façade. It was setup to make everyone believe that they had input to the decision. When in fact, it didn’t matter what any of us said during the meeting.

So what’s my point? Well, the point here is….. If you are the decision-maker, and you have already made the decision, say so up front. Don’t create a smoke screen by asking for input. Once people figure out what you are doing, trust me, they won’t be happy.

Some people use this tactic because they are looking for buy-in to their decision. Some people don’t even realize they are doing it. Some people are doing it because they can. It doesn’t really matter for which reason. When you use this kind of tactic, the people around you will begin to mistrust you. They will feel used. And they will feel mislead.

Be upfront with your co-workers. Keep topics and motives out in the open. You will all have a much better working relationship.

Cheers!