WorkLifeBridge

There are lots of ways to make decisions within an organization.

Some managers prefer to make decisions unilaterally, based on their own thinking and knowledge, and to dictate the results of those decisions to those working for them. Others like to make no decisions at all, delegating all decisions to others in their place. Some gather lots of information from everyone on their team and take the advice of their team in making their decisions. Others still try to get everyone to agree, valuing the buy-in and ownership that comes from consensus decision-making.

Some companies and organizations purport to value consensus decision-making so highly that they make it a core value and develop a culture of consensus that pervades the company. The resultant organization strives for harmony and involvement, making sure that everyone who wants to has a say in every decision and and that no one feels like decisions have been imposed upon them or dictated to them. By making sure that everyone in the organization is on board with every decision, these organizations strive for maximum buy-in from all involved, wholehearted implementation of the decisions, and reduced conflict in the organization.

The problem is that consensus might not always be the best way to make decisions, and that consensus decision-making can have drawbacks and pathologies that undermine the very purposes it looks to achieve. For one, not every decision concerns every person in the organization. In some cases, some people may have neither information relating to the matter at hand nor will be particularly affected by the results of any decision made. Requiring consensus draws these people into the decision-making process needlessly while potentially taking them away from areas where their skills are put to better use. In addition, consensus tends to be a slow process, and some decisions need to be made quickly.

Moreover, a culture of consensus can in reality be a mask for organizational ills such as rampant conflict avoidance or an inability to commit to decisions. Many people are uncomfortable with conflict and look to either avoid conversations that lead to conflict or to suppress conflict if it ever erupts. On an organizational scale, conflict avoidance can prevent people from having genuine discussions regarding their disagreements and diminish the richness of ideas that comes from heated debate. In addition, an unease around making decisions and commitments can lead to endless analysis and conversation in which nothing gets done. As a result, instead of consensus leading to good decisions and buy-in, it might lead to sub-optimal decisions, paralysis, and alienation.

Consensus decision-making can be wonderful, so long as you’ve chosen to use it purposefully and for valid reasons, and so long as you are using it under the right circumstances and with the involvement of the right people. It is also a difficult process to manage and must be tended to skillfully and diligently in order to be effective at achieving the results you want.

Here are some resources and ideas to help you get the most out of your consensus decision-making process:

• Here are some step-by-step instructions for achieving consensus
• For a more detailed treatment, here is a handbook on consensus processes
• For an even more elaborate discussion, here are notes on consensus
• Finally, here is a Cornell University study on when managers should and shouldn’t use consensus

The latest edition of Complete Lawyer, an online publication on professional development, quality of life, and career issues that impact lawyers, covers an issue that any workplace — legal or otherwise — needs to pay attention to:  workplace bullying.

Why?  Because of the consequences it holds for workforce retention, productivity, company reputation, and employer liability.

“No Jerks Allowed!” features articles from workplace experts, including:

• “Yes, There Are Ways To Reform Workplace Jerks” by Allison West
• “Create A Blueprint For A ‘Bullying-Free’ Workplace” by Gary Namie
• “How To Spot And Deal With Jerks” by Julie Fleming-Brown
• “Power Breeds Nastiness” by Robert Sutton

What is your workplace doing to address workplace bullying?

In a recent poll by ComPsych, a provider of employee assistance programs (EAPs) and other workplace services, 60 percent of employees indicated that they have high levels of stress, manifested by extreme fatigue and a feeling of being out of control. Moreover, 42 percent said that they lose at least one hour or more per day in productivity due to stress, and 35 percent said that they lose 15 - 30 minutes per day. That’s a lot of productivity loss.

Put simply, if you run a company of 100 people, you’re losing about 46 hours of productivity from your employees due to stress every day.

How is productivity affected? For one, stress increases absenteeism. The same survey revealed that nearly half of employees don’t show up for work one or two days a year just due to stress, and another 30 percent miss three to six days for the same reasons. In addition, even when they do come to work, over half the survey participants indicated that they show up too stressed to be effective at their jobs one to four days a year, and another 20 percent put that figure at five days or more. Nearly two thirds of employees take frequent stress breaks to talk about issues with colleagues, and 83 percent come to work when they’re sick.

The scary thing is that most managers are unaware of the stress that their employees are feeling and may be ill-prepared to address it. Of the human resources managers surveyed, only 45 percent thought employees had a high level of stress. Moreover, over a third of employees surveyed cited people issues as their primary cause of stress, and 40 percent of those asked cited stress and personal relationship issues as a primary cause of absences.

Your employees’ stress is costing your company in productivity, and that translates to reduced profitability.

So what can you do about it? Forbes has an article on stress in the workplace, including a slide show of the ten best workplace stress relievers. Top among their tips were ideas such as physical exercise, fun and humor, building in slack to account for unexpected glitches, and simply bringing a healthy perspective when mishaps occur.

The Work Bloom Blog also has additional excellent suggestions for employees on dealing with stress in the work place. Companies that provide their employees with encouragement and opportunities to use these stress-relieving suggestions are doing both their employees and their bottom line a favor.

But since people issues are at the root of a great deal of stress, and since stress prevention is preferable to stress management, enhancing your employees’ people skills and increasing your company’s conflict management competence can have a profound effect on the stress that your employees are feeling. If the statistics in the ComPsych survey bear out, by helping people understand their own behaviors and deal better with those around them, you can reduce their stress level, improve morale, reduce absenteeism, increase productivity, and ultimately, be more profitable.

Here are some steps you can take:

• Make EAP and other referral services available for your employees to help them deal with life stresses external to the company.
• Provide training in negotiation, conflict resolution, communication, and other people skills to your employees, and particularly to your managers.
• Create both formal and informal dispute resolution processes and systems for your organization, and let people know how to access them.
• Treat employee complaints and behaviors seriously with respect. Make it safe for people to talk, and take effective action when warranted.