(Time to read this blog article about 45 seconds)
I recently worked with a CEO who believed strongly in ‘consensus management’. The problem is that no decisions were being made. The 15 members of the management and supervisory group couldn’t all agree on what would be done, by whom, by when, measured how…so nothing got done. Out of 47 customer-focused and internal organizational initiatives that were identified a year ago as being key priorities, only three had been completed by the end of 2017.
‘Consensus management’ is often adopted by leaders who simply don’t want to make decisions themselves, or who want to share the blame if a decision doesn’t work out. Sure you should listen intently to the ideas and opinions of others, but as a leader, ultimately, it’s your job to make decisions, or to delegate the decision making function to someone else, with an agreed completion date.
You’re never going to get agreement from everyone on any important course of action. Your business will grind to a halt if you try to get total consensus. Businesses don’t die from a single shot to the head. They die, slowly but surely, from a 1,000 uncompleted tasks. Wish it on your competitors.
When everyone has had their say and a decision is made, it’s time for everyone to get on board and do their part. Resistance and sabotage cannot be tolerated. If they can’t get on board, they should get off the train.
