What do you do when a teammate says, “I won’t stand in the way of the team accepting the proposal.” and when asked directly whether they will support the proposal, they hem and haw without clearly saying “Yes.”?
In my post on Decide as a Team, I discussed how a team can use the Roman Evaluation Process to make a consensus decision and, if properly executed, how all the members of the team will support the decision and how it was made.
An element of proper execution of the process is cutting through double-talk. If you have any doubt about whether another member will support a team decision, I recommend you put your thumb down when voting on a proposal.
Recall in the Roman Evaluation Process the first people to speak after a vote are the members with their thumb pointing down. The member with doubt can share it with the team. If the suspected member or members say they will support the proposal, the doubter has an opportunity to change their vote.
Note, doubts won’t surface in a dangerous meeting environment. Unless members feel safe, they won’t speak up about their doubts. See my article Safety Check for how to measure the safety of a meeting and actions leaders can take to create a safe meeting environment. If you need help making your meetings safer, contact me.
Let me share an example of a situation where a member of a team put their thumb down on a proposal, which they liked and wanted approved, because of their doubts about whether another member’s would fully support the decision.
I was a member of a team who had responsibility for marketing a product. Robert proposed the team produce a brochure that contained pictures of the product. This was a new idea — previous product brochures had contained the company’s log but did not contain product pictures.
Barry, whose organization would be responsible for producing the brochure, objected to the proposal because he didn’t like the product pictures. He was passionate about his dislike. He wanted different pictures. But the desired schedule for the brochure prevented the option of taking new pictures. Despite his problems with the proposal, Barry repeatedly said, “I won’t stand in the way of putting pictures in the brochure, BUT I don’t like it.”
Sheila, another member of the team, had invested her time in producing a mock up of the proposed pictures and she was satisfied with the results. She tried to convince Barry of the value of pictures but her mock up seemed to only cause him to dig in and reiterate his previous statement of not standing in the way of the team.
The other members thought there was value in having product pictures, even if they were less than outstanding. They thought the team was in consensus because of Barry’s statements. They were ready to vote and move on.
Robert saw the situation differently. The discussion, which had extended over two meetings, had been heated. He was worried about Barry’s support and also worried that the proposal would tear the team apart. He asked for a vote. Barry put his thumb sideways; the other members put their thumb up; and Robert put his thumb down.
Robert spoke first after the vote. He said, “Until we have a proposal that everyone can fully support, I will thumb down the proposal.” His statement stunned me. I hadn’t seen it coming. I thought the brochure with pictures was a solid proposal. The idea of a member voting with their thumb to the sideways and not supporting a proposal was alien to me.
I assumed support was an automatic because a sideways vote means “I will go a long with the majority and support their decision.” But, upon reflection, I realized that Barry’s statements didn’t say anything about supporting the decision only about not standing in the way of the team’s decision. That’s two different things.
A year has passed since Robert put his thumb down. I clearly see that Robert had voted wisely. The team grumbled about the time that had been lost. But the team stayed together and they eventually created a proposal for a pictureless brochure that was supported by all the members.
Do you have any doubts about your teammates willingness to support a team decision? If so, put your thumb down and surface your doubts. This action reinforces the foundation of the team. Inaction cracks the foundation. If you need help reinforcing the foundation of your team, contact me.
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