Decision-Making Tips for Project Lead

Many managers have a difficult time knowing whether to make decisions alone or by consulting with team members. An effective leader evaluates each situation on a case-by-case basis and chooses the appropriate style of decision-making. The following guidelines can help.

Unilateral Decision Making is usually best when . . .

. The company is facing a crises, and time is critical . An issue is so political that an unbiased viewpoint is difficult to obtain from the team . A high-level strategy is needed in an environment where most employees do not understand the big picture

Consensus Decision Making is usually best when . . .

. Creativity is required to solve an important issue . The implementation of an idea requires effort by multiple team members . The team has strong feelings about how something is to be done, and the manager is only concerned about the end result.

The bottom line is for a manager to carefully analyze each situation to choose the best method of making a decision. By following the above guidelines, a leader can foster a strong team dynamic and earn a group's respect by knowing when to seek input and when to make authoritarian decisions.

Conflict Management in the Workplace

Several studies estimate that managers spend 20% of their time resolving personnel conflicts in the workplace. Instead of focusing on activities that enhance the company's bottom-line, people in conflict waste time and energy on the conflict itself. Although disagreements regarding corporate strategy can be healthy, personnel clashes can cause anxiety, hostility, and fatigue. What can a manager do to help resolve conflicts within his or her group? If the manager takes on the role of judge, deciding who is right and who is wrong, there is a strong chance of resentment by the party that was ruled against. A better approach is to function as a mediator; helping both parties better understand their issues so that they can look for a solution themselves. An open and honest dialogue can also quell disputes that arise from rumors or misunderstandings. One of the best ways to help the parties develop a clear perception of their opposing viewpoints is to have each employee give his side of the story as well as what he thinks is the other person's side of the argument. After the first person lays out his case, the second person follows the same exercise. The manager's role is to make sure that both parties have a chance to speak without interruption, to help the employees view their differences as work-related instead of personal, and to encourage the employees to arrive at a workable solution. The most important goal is to help the parties understand each other. Empathy of this kind will often lead to a productive compromise.

Adopting Market Changes

How have you and your organization positioned yourselves to capitalize on changes in the employment market? Here are some tools:

Keeping your finger on the pulse of the market:

Through the effective use of industry contacts, employment resources (firms you may partner with) and articles related to staffing, you can gauge what the current market is like and what you can expect to find on upcoming recruiting assignments. By having an idea of the current market for a given position, you can alleviate surprises that cause delays in hiring and unexpected internal equity issues if salaries are on the rise.

Planning recruiting activities:

By giving advance notice to HR and recruiting firms, line managers can greatly increase the effectiveness of their recruiting process. By planning for needs, you allow HR and/or recruiting firms the time necessary to be able to source the best candidates for a given position. With the candidate pool tightening, advance notice will aid in a thorough search process resulting in the presentation of higher quality candidates. Even for contract needs, advance notice is extremely helpful in producing the best candidates.

Monitoring the success of your recruiting strategies:

This will help you in determining the best approach for a given position. Companies have shifted their recruiting strategy over the past couple of years and have relied heavily on employment advertising. The market is changing and that strategy may not be yielding the results it was last year. By monitoring the success (timeframes, costs of internal staff time) of your various recruiting programs, you can effectively strategize the best approach for the next project. Adjusting the recruiting strategy for changes in the market: By understanding changes in the market and the success rates of current and recent recruiting campaigns, you can effectively make adjustments to your recruiting strategy in order to stay on top of the market. By having a recruiting strategy that allows for flexibility, subtle changes in the resources you employ can dramatically affect the outcome of recruiting campaigns.

Currently, we are facing some interesting changes in the employment market, which are creating voids in the candidate pool for some technologies, and overall are making things tougher in terms of finding the best candidates. The way you view, construct, monitor and adapt your recruiting process can have significant impacts on the overall duration and cost structure of a recruiting effort.