Gearing up for Facilitating Better Team Decisions

We are sharing some of the tools and processes we have developed and used with clients over many years. If you need to facilitate a discussion that will involve coming to a decision in your team, this tool could help.

Individuals have preferences for the type of information they trust and absorb, and how they like to process that information as part of a decision-making process. The value of a team is that there is more chance of diverse opinions and experience, but this isn’t always the case. Therefore, this tool helps you capture and consider ALL the relevant information when making an important or complex decision. It encourages you to look at your decisions from different perspectives.

GEAR is a systematic process for helping you make better decisions. It stands for:

• Gather

• Explore

• Analyse

• Real World.

HOW TO USE GEAR

1. First, identify the situation or decision area you want to focus on.

2. Write it down as a question [What, Should, Could, How, etc]

Example: Should we add this new project [name the project] to our portfolio?

3. Then work through each GEAR stage as follows.

GEAR process for scrutinizing decisions

3.1. Gather

Discuss as a team and agree what relevant data you want or need to record

• GATHER all the relevant details you know that relate to the subject you are considering.

• Describe the situation or problem in an objective way.

• Establish the context.

• Avoid conjecture.

• Stick to facts and verifiable data.

• Focus on what is known.

• Clarify what is currently unknown.

3.2. Explore

Now EXPLORE what might be possible in response to the situation or problem you have just described. Your ideas should be framed as “We could…”

Examples: “We could drop one of our existing projects”, or “We could ask for more resource in our team” or “We could say no”.

• Be bold.

• Do not question or evaluate your ideas, just record them.

• Don’t dismiss anything, however wild or seemingly trivial.

• Free your mind and let the ideas flow.

Once you have identified possible responses, discuss and select ONE possible response that you would like to investigate further together.

3.3. Analyse

ANALYSE the response you have selected.

• Consider it logically, being careful not to allow subjective thoughts to obscure your focus.

• Map it out through step-by-step sequence to see how the idea plays out.

• Assess how it impacts other known systems and processes (positively and negatively).

• Consider the technical challenges that exist if you chose to adopt this option.

3.4. Real World

Now consider how your idea might affect culture, values and people when it plays out in the real world.

• How might people respond if you chose this solution?

• How much of a shock will this feel like to your colleagues?

• What would people need from you to be able to accommodate your solution?

• Is your idea new or consistent with the way the organisation works currently?

When you have completed GEAR for a particular option, go back and explore multiple ideas/options before making your final decision.