Collaborative Decision Making

Reflect on the role of collaboration and getting to resolution in the process of decision-making. Rarely, if ever, do our decisions affect only ourselves. Consider the importance of getting other stakeholders involved; how can they help you make a better decision for all?  

Recall a specific situation where you are faced with making a decision; within the context of the information in this module’s reading, describe the process you went through and the outcome you were seeking. How did stakeholder involvement help you make a better decision?  If stakeholders were not involved, could they have been? Would that have led to a better resolution? Did you achieve your objective(s)? Identify 3 ways you may use this learning experience to make better decisions in the future.

Perhaps the most relevant situation has been our involvement with recent church activities and fundraisers.  Although seemingly low stress and fun, having been tasked with running the bar during the annual crab feed dinner presented unexpected challenges in decision making and team building. 

While the popular perception of the running the bar at a church function is likely “C’mon, how hard can it be?  Pour some drinks, collect some cash, and a have a few beers while doing it?  Where do I sign up?”, it was a little more involved than that. 

I was fortunate to have a couple of friends who gladly volunteered to help, so to have some camaraderie and assistance for the evening was great (and yes…we did have a few shots).  But what became apparent during the planning phase was that the actual decisions on how much beer/wine/spirits to purchase, the size of the pour, as well as pricing the menu was entirely up to me.  With not a lot of guidance from the organizers, I was left make these decisions on my own.

Now since this was a church function, there is much less at stake in terms of consequence and “customer satisfaction” versus in industry.  If the wine is not a 2010 Clos du Bois Merlot, well guess what, buddy – it’s the church crab feed.  People are there to support the cause, so absolute perfection is not a requirement. 

However, what one realizes when organizing in these events is how delicate the interaction between principals may need to be.  Although conflict as discussed in Levine (2009) may not necessarily be in play when planning such an event, it is in one’s interest to tread lightly so that other volunteer’s boundaries are respected and sensibilities are not offended. 

However, the starting point of such interaction may be closer “stories; telling and listening”, as stated by Levine (2009), simply to learn and understand how things may have been done in prior years.  So, when the time came to make decisions on what to serve, how much to purchase, and what should be the price point, I made a conscious effort to speak in a collaborative but firm manner with people.  Sort of like – Here’s what I’m thinking, how does that sound?  Did I miss anything? 

While such an approach may not be the most refined, one must know their audience and understand the context of the interaction.  We’re at a church function, so there’s no need for paradigm shifts, scalability exercises or other MBA speak.  Let’s just get the job done efficiently so the evening goes really smooth and we can have some fun doing it. However, because the of the volunteer nature of things, one may also feel the need to be especially subtle and polite when engaging with others and assigning tasks. 

While the decisions in this anecdote were relatively easy and of low consequence, I though this an instructive example of how the attributes and questions that Levine poses can be applied in a non-traditional manner.  A church function bar can be pretty small grommet to jump through (or needle to thread) as a lot of factors may be more exposed in a volunteer situation versus a professional work environment that may require additional experience and resolution skill than otherwise considered. 

Typically, volunteer events are a lot of fun, but the planning and organizing side does present unique challenges that are similar to that found in industry, but to a lesser degree.  However, good practices can be applied in a variety of situations when practiced with a light touch. 

PS – the bar earned over a $1,000 for the night…guess who was designated as bartender for the 2019 crab feed…

Levine, S. (2009 ). Getting to resolution: Turning conflict into resolution. (2nd edition). Williston, VT: Berrett-Koehler Publishers