Thoughts about the various ways of making team decisions that a project

manager has.

An important responsibility of every project manager is to ensure that decisions are made. Decisions
must be usually made as soon as possible - and they should be good ones.

Which opportunities does a project manager have when making decisions that involve the team?

• The project manager decides by himself/herself - without having consulted the team
beforehand about possible solutions. Thereafter he/she informs the team about the decision.

• The project manager asks the project team, how they would decide and after having discussed
suggestions and their respective ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ he/she decides. Important in this case is that
the project manager informs the team from the start, that he/she will decide and not the team.
But, that it is important to him/her that the opinions of each team member is known before the
decision is made.

• The project manager delegates the decision to one team member or a group of employees who
then take over the responsibility for the decision.

• The project manager lets the project team decide democratically and the decision is that of the
majority vote.

• The project manager leaves the solution search (for an internal team problem that has no
external affect) up to the whole team and hopes that self-organisation is effective.

• The project manager clarifies the causes for the problem together with the team in a dialogue.
Using those results as the basis, they will develop various solution suggestions – until one of the
options is agreed upon unanimously (not a compromise!). Important is that the project manager
never gives the answers first – avoid putting words in someone’s mouth.

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Module Project Management pmC I.Giel /M.Landolt (7.11.16)

 Entscheidungsmethode
Project manager decides alone. Informs
the team about the decision.
Projektmanager entscheidet alleine und
informiert die Teammitglieder über
seine Entscheidung
PM decides on own – based on team’s
input.
Projektmanager entscheidet alleine -
nach Anregung durch die
Teammitglieder
PM delegates the decision solution
search to a team member
Projektmanager delegiert die Findung
der Entscheidung an ein Teammitglied
Democratic vote by whole team
demokratische Abstimmung der
Teammitglieder
Module Project Management pmC
Vorteile
Quick decision
schnelle Entscheidung möglich
Many views offering various solutions
Responsibility for solution decision is
the PM’s
viele Sichten und dadurch viele
unterschiedliche
Lösungsmöglichkeiten,
Verantwortung für die
Lösungsentscheidung bleibt beim
Projektmanager
PM doesn’t spend time beforehand
Team members are involved
Projektmanager muss keine Zeit für
die Entscheidungsfindung
aufwenden, Teammitglieder sind
mitbeteiligt
Quick decsion method
Democracy rules
schnelle Entscheidungsmethode, alle
Teammitglieder dürfen ´irgendwie ´
mitentscheiden (alle sind gefragt
worden), demokratische Mehrheit als
anerkannte Entscheidungsmethode
I.Giel /M.Landolt (7.11.16)
Nachteile
Only the view of the PM.
nur die eine Sicht des Projektmanagers
bestimmt die Entscheidung, Vielfalt der
Ansichten fehlt, Teammitglieder stehen
nicht hinter der Entscheidung
Bigger time effort; team members identify
with their options and therefore could
stand against alternatives
grösserer Zeitaufwand, Teammitglieder
identifizieren sich mit ihrer eigenen
Lösungsmöglichkeit und leisten u.U.
Widerstand gegen abweichende Lösung
des Projektmanagers
PM has no influence on the quality oft he
decision search.
PM may have to accept a different decision
than his
Projektmanager hat keinen Einfluss auf die
Qualität der Entscheidungsfindung,
Projektmanager muss u.U. eine von seiner
Meinung abweichende Entscheidung
akzeptieren
Leads to group-building within the team
There are winners and losers which can
lead to problems
führt zu Gruppenbildung im Team, es gibt
´Verlierer´, die u.U. Widerstand gegen die
´nicht-eigene´ Lösung leisten,
Projektmanager muss auch eine von seiner
Meinung abweichende Entscheidung
akzeptieren
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Self-organised team finds solutions PM doesn’t spend any time PM has no influence on the quality oft he
‚somehow‘ beforehand. All participate together decision search.

Lösungsfindung innerhalb des Teams
durch Selbstorganisation (es regelt sich
´irgendwie ´ von selbst)
Projektmanager muss keine Zeit für
die Entscheidungsfindung
aufwenden, Teammitglieder sind
mitbeteiligt
Usually no one feels responsible. Risk is
that each member does what they want
Projektmanager hat keinen Einfluss auf die
Qualität der Entscheidungsfindung, oft
fühlt sich niemand verantwortlich: Risiko,
dass keine Lösung gesucht wird oder jeder
macht, was er will

Common solution search of PM:Team All team members involved Requires much time

Results in consense New, innovative solutions result

gemeinsame Lösungsfindung des PM has an influence Lösungsfindung braucht viel Zeit

Projektmanagers mit dem Team im
Dialog: Konsensfindung
alle Teammitglieder sind beteiligt,
durch die verschiedenen Sichten und
das Hinterfragen können neue,
innovative Lösungsmöglichkeiten
entstehen, Projektmanager hat
Einfluss auf Entscheidung

Take away: Which method the project manager selects, is dependent on how quickly a decision
must be made, i.e., how urgent and how important the decision is for the team/or project as well as
in what scope the team needs to carry out the solution.

Collective Solution Approch

The traditional approach to finding a solution looks like this – everyone is engaged to suggest a
solution – some argue over the suggestions – groups within the group form – each are ‚sour‘ about
the other and cannot decide on anything– the project manager feels responsible that a decision is
finally made and decides – and then everyone is upset.

Important problems are often better solved like this:

1. Problem description: together the problem is documented on a whiteboard/flip chart/overhead

– until it is best described.

2. Objective: what do we want to achieve? Where do we want to go with the solution?

3. Develop alternative solutions : work out several options together – not just the next best.
Systematically look/work through for a solution that contains the characteristics of the problem

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Module Project Management pmC I.Giel /M.Landolt (7.11.16)

 and can be drawn up like a MindMap – each affect has a cause! And don’t overlook that
individual cause & effect can influence positively or negatively, i.e., reverse feedback.

4. Evaluation: formally review the alternatives looking at their use, value, effects & influences –
not based on your gut!

5. Action plan: Define together and document concrete steps, (SMART, WWWWW).

6. Retrospective: after you’ve carried out the solution, ask yourselves ‚what worked well to get
there?‘ What could we do better next time?

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Module Project Management pmC I.Giel /M.Landolt (7.11.16)

Decisions – use a structured method to get there:

1. For which problem do I want to find a solution?

2. What will I/we achieve? What is the goal/objective?

3. Which alternative actions do I have available? (for searching solutions)

4. What are the criteria I need for the review of the suggestions?

5. How well do the alternative actions fit with these criteria? Do I need to
use other criteria?

6. Which risks does each solution have? What can go wrong? How high are
the risk(s)?

7. What is thought to be the optimal appropriate solution?

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Module Project Management pmC I.Giel /M.Landolt (7.11.16)