Decision Making Article

8/3/2019 Decision Making Article

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/decision-making-article 1/3

ALLOCATING RESOURCESWhen allocating training budgets managersmay find themselves in the situation of havingto choose between maximising individual

development or creating a programme todevelop the team. Prioritising decisions likethis is never easy.We asked Chartered Manager Lt Col Jonathan

Martin, head of strategic plans at the DMSD

(Defence Medical Services Department), for his

views on making decisions about resource allocation:

As an Army officer training has always been a

fundamental part of my career – both individual

and what we call team/collective training. While I

recognise the dilemma set, the key for me is that

although there may well be time and financial

constraints that force a compromise or a choice

between individual or team training, the important

point is that you have to balance both.

Clearly, you need to have individuals with the

correct skill set for the task but a group of individuals

with the correct level of skill does not make an

effective team. Fortunately, in the military this scenario

is not one that we face often due to the importance

placed upon training at all levels. We have a well-

defined structure and programme to meet the

collective training requirement, with established

targets and performance standards that must be

met in order to be declared operationally effective.In the Army the effectiveness of the team (Section),

Platoon, Company and Regiment is crucial. On

operations, soldiers need the support, both physically

and mentally, of their colleagues in order to be

successful on the battlefield and to cope with the

stressful situations with which they face.

They must have complete trust in their colleagues

and know each other’s strengths and weaknesses,

utilising the strengths and mitigating the weaknesses.

It is essential that individual skills are of a high

standard but, secondly, it is only through collective

training that these individual skills are brought

REPO RT

PROFESSIO NA L MANAGER NOVEMBER 2005

When the buck

stops...stops...Decision-making is fundamental to a manager’s

role – both taking them and carrying them out –

and it’s the theme of the Chartered Management

Institute’s current marketing campaign. PM took

two ‘dilemmas’ highlighted in the campaign and

asked two Chartered Managers to give their

response. Report by Sue Mann

‘Chartered Manager

Lt Col Jonathan Martin



21

together to produce effective military capability.

However, for the individual to progress through

the ranks he/she must attend a series of individual

development courses throughout their career, which

are often linked to promotion. The important point

here, which I believe applies equally to the civilian

workplace, is that individual training makes the

employee feel valued much more than collective

training - a key component of retention.He/she will feel that their individual needs are being

identified and subsequently met, and people like to

know that their interests and personal development

is of importance to the organisation – in short, that

they matter to the organisation. The benefits to the

organisation of an individual who feels valued and

well led are well understood.

I believe the main consideration when prioritis-

ing development plans is to understand exactly the

aspirations of the individual. As a manager you

should know what needs to be delivered in terms of

performance and outputs of the team but timemust be invested with the individuals to accurately

define their strengths and weaknesses and more

importantly their career aspirations. How career

minded are they? How fast can you develop them?

What return are you likely to get from your invest-

ment? What are their aspirations versus what you

need them to achieve?

One must always be careful to give all team/staff

similar opportunities to be developed. I have

experienced the situation that can arise when one

member of the team is frequently away on individual

training courses, the rest of the staff become resentful

that they are left to hold the fort and do the work –

which breaks team cohesion.

Individual training plans are a must and training

needs should be identified at the start of the year when

an individual’s objectives are set. It is essential that

if a training need is identified then it is met as soon

as practicable. If at the end of the year the training

plan has not been actioned this will give the impression

that individual development is not important.

During my career I have gained a much greater

understanding of individual needs and through my

military training I understand the importance of

collective training and getting the team to work together to maximise efficiency and thus effectiveness.

The military pride themselves on their leadership

training. I was an instructor at the Royal Military

Academy Sandhurst some years ago and learnt a

great deal about how to bring out the best in both

individuals and the team. Sound leadership is key

since I believe businesses are managed but people

should be led.

My advice to managers would be that both

individual and collective training are key to efficiency.

You need to balance both (the leadership challenge),

and it must not be a choice between the two.

Arguably, individual training can improve individual

morale more than collective training but you need to

understand how an individual will react to different

training and development and tailor the training

solution accordingly.

It goes without saying that highly skilled individuals

are much more efficient if they are working together

as a team but there are many ways of improving the

outputs of a team - training is but one component.

CHANGE MANAGEMENTWhen organisational changes are takingplace it is usually the manager’s job tocarry them out, whether they are 100 percent behind the changes or not.

In such a situation, would you reluctantlyendorse the internal changes or perhapsvoice your doubts about them with your team,to let the team know you’re ‘on their side’?

This is the decision-making dilemma we put to

David Parody, the Chartered Management

Institute’s first Chartered Manager in Gibraltar.

Parody is head of banking supervision and chief

operations officer for the jurisdiction’s regulator, the

Financial Services Commission:

‘This situation arises frequently in my organisa-

tion as active discussion and participation is

PROFESSIONAL MANAGER NOVEMBER 2005

’

‘

Chartered Manager

David Parody



sought and encouraged at all levels and on a variety

of subjects.

The issue is what role are you playing as a manager?

For some, being a manager entails representing

the views and opinions of the team or themselves,

at all costs, irrespective of whether the “idea” is a

good one or not. For others, being a manager is

about leadership and providing the team with the

direction and leadership to get the change effected,even if personally he/she disagrees with it.

A position that I have taken intentionally at

meetings where change is being discussed is to

represent an extremist and confrontational but con-

structive view, irrespective of my own view.

New ideas seldom come from conformist

mediocre stances, it is essential that by presenting

an opposing position at one end of a spectrum it is

possible to identify a position which is “outside of

the box” somewhere between both positions.

Management is also about influencing change.

But there is a line to be drawn in the sand betweeninfluencing change and managing change. There

comes a point in every change management programme

where the planning finishes and the work commences.

Any manager who does not commit to the cause

because of differences of opinion with the strategy or

implementation of the change is doing a disservice

to the organisation, his/her team and more importantly

themselves.

When it is time to roll up the sleeves the manager’s

only objective should be to provide the team with

the motivation and resources to give the plan effect.

Perhaps the biggest influencer on change manage-

ment issues is not the culture of the organisation

but the time constraints under which decisions need

to be taken. Are they life or death, or can they be

put aside and discussed?

My own experience is of a flat management culture

where a lot of emphasis is placed upon peer reviews

and recommendations made collectively to the chief

executive.

Such an approach is conducive to differences of

opinion being raised as you may have five divisional

heads presenting their own view on how a matter should

be taken forward. Irrespective of the decision taken,

it is likely that at least one or maybe four divisionheads may end up with a decision of how to take an

issue forward that contradicted their own view.

If division heads were not able to put these differ-

ences behind them and provide the leadership, little

would be done except in the division whose manag-

er’s ideas had won the day.

In a more hierarchical structure, the same concept

should apply. A decision is made which for better or

worse needs to be given effect. Having a manager

question the decision or not agreeing to carry it out

will cause the organisation to become ineffective.

In the majority of cases the quandary that a manager

faces in this situation is solved by whether or not

the manager is able to influence the change process

at its design stage.

Where influence is possible then the manager

should take every opportunity to voice his/her concerns

in a constructive manner. When the decision has

already been made, the manager needs to change his

position to take the issue forward.

There will always be circumstances where it is notpossible to adopt such a clear-cut approach and these

will be occasions where a manager’s true leadership

skills will come into play.

Youthful exuberance is a wonderful driver for

change but can also be one’s greatest downfall. Not

understanding the workings, culture and politics of

an organisation leads to many a mistaken judge-

ment call having been made as to how far an issue

can be taken. Too little and you are ineffective, too

far and you alienate those who could have been

won over.

I may not have grey hairs, as I have no hair, butthe so-called “character lines” are evidence of experi-

ences painfully gained in battles lost. Sun-Tzu is

quoted as saying: “To fight and conquer in all your

battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excel-

lence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance

without fighting.” That is where my experience in

those lost battles has been focused, in not having

battles at all, but to influence change before it

becomes an issue.

The key in successful change management is not

in the opposition of the change but in how it is

managed and delivered so that the expectations of

the organisation and your own teams are managed

and met. This can only be done through the provision

of well researched and presented options that fit

into the organisation’s culture and not one that is

diametrically opposed to it.

Ten years ago I would have described myself as a

bull in a china shop. Lashing out to get things done

and getting more and more frustrated when they didn’t.

Nowadays I give myself time to think and consider

factors that will have an influence on any given

decision. Having studied for the Chartered

Management Institute qualifications (I am now also

sitting an Executive Masters in EnterpriseManagement) provides the knowledge of the internal

and external factors that bear upon an organisation

and its people and how these can be managed. This

knowledge is a prerequisite if potential conflict

situations are to be managed as successful projects

rather than those that end up in tears.

My advice to managers grappling with change

management decisions would be to decide on what

side of the fence they want to be. The side where there

is a lot of shouting and gesticulation but very little

is achieved or the quiet one where little victories

are won without having to fight a single battle.’

REPO RT

22 PROFESSIONAL MANAGER NOVEMBER 2005

decision-

making … and how you make choices

n your job as a manager. The

Chart ered Management

nstitute’s checklist Making

Rati onal Decisions (No. 15)

provides a useful framework.

t i s available free to Instit ute

members, for individual use

only. Download a copy from

www.managers.org.uk/sub-

ectsearch. Alternatively, call

01536 207400 or [email protected].

uk to request a copy.

• In the next issue Chartered Managers tackle the difficult questions of conflict management and selecting staff for

promotion

thinking about…

PM

’

Decision Making Article

Documents

Transcript of Decision Making Article