TRANSITIONING TO SOFT MANAGEMENT
Do you have many problems and have to think alone? Is that a special feeling, when you don’t know what to do and a mistake could ruin the business or project, yours?
Where can you find such a sage who would advise and teach you? Leadership and motivation – you’re tired of these words; they don’t apply to your situation. You just want to solve complex issues together, have support, and sound advice, finally some engagement.
Read the simple rules of group decision-making; they will help you resolve complex issues with your employees, partners, colleagues, or friends and transition to soft management.
Step 1. TALK TO PEOPLE.
Talk informally to as many people as possible about the meeting topic.
What’s most important? The decision is yours, ideally, after you’ve spoken informally with as many people as possible. If there’s no plan, you first need to understand the whole process and draft a preliminary plan.
When starting a new project, entirely new, or a new direction within an existing one, many are hesitant to invite others while the project is still raw, and the person still doesn’t understand how it should be launched. But without the support of others, a new project can’t be launched, even if it’s led by just one person, such as a small entrepreneur.
Discussing your ideas with others is an important part of the process. Don’t expect too much when you offer your ideas to others. Say, thank you if someone will participate in the process for a while. During discussions, it becomes clear what others accept and what they don’t. Often in such dialogues, bottlenecks are exposed, and priority tasks become apparent. Even the mere fact of defending your still raw idea gives its owner additional confidence. In such dialogues, the idea can transform, become shared among the cohorts, or be broken into pieces for implementation in parts.
What do you want from a group of people when discussing your idea? Constant support, the opportunity to discuss a difficult issue and receive sound advice, share responsibility with someone, and at the same time not particularly bother anyone with your requests and dreams.
This article describes just such prospects when people start to take an interest in the process, business, or project. They become helpers, participants, or support groups, offering sound advice and simply a fresh perspective from the outside.
Step 2. CONVENE THE PARTICIPANTS
Announce the topic and purpose of the meeting, possible time and place, can be online
In the beginning, when organizing a meeting, one common mistake is often made. The organizer assumes that everyone understands why they have gathered and that they are all thinking about the same very important issue. But 30 minutes or an hour later, even a promising business partner might say: “I didn’t come here to listen to everyone talk about the same issue.” Therefore, it’s crucial to clearly state even the obvious purpose of the meeting: assigning duties, allocating resources, agreeing on plans, etc., announcing it to everyone, writing it on a sheet no smaller than A4, and posting it prominently vertically. This is to ensure that “my thoughts are my own to control” do not scatter. Moreover, the moderator will now rightfully be able to point to the meeting’s goal and bring participants back to the topic of discussion.
And this is not about leadership and motivation, where the leader knows best and leads everyone. We describe a normal situation, where there are no particularly smart or decisive people, but work still needs to be done. So first, let’s call the participants, these are our colleagues, friends, or relatives. The main thing is that they agree not to criticize. There will be a separate mission for the critics. The next day, if they wish, they can critique the decision one-on-one, look for ways to improve it, and how to block failures.
Step 3. START OF THE MEETING.
Greetings, announcement of the topic and goal, motivation for work, a five-minute energizer.
Start the interaction process with something positive. Maybe everyone would like to say a few pleasant or funny words, do a fun exercise, or share some cookies. By the way, tea is welcome.
Step 4. SET THE RULES AND CHOOSE A LEADER
Set rules based on the suggestions from the group participants.
Main rules: 1. Presence of a leader 2. Regulation 3. No criticism.
Of course, you can choose not to set rules, but then you will still spend 90% of the time figuring out who speaks after whom, how long and in what tone, and why everyone gathered in the first place. Therefore, it’s better to establish some rules. Simply tell everyone gathered, “Let’s establish a schedule, and make suggestions.” Then ask what other rules are needed for discussing the main issue.
Initially, you will be responsible for taking a marker and writing down the proposed rules and also displaying them for everyone to see. Later, this can be done by the next leader. By the way, you will also have to act as the leader during the first and second meetings, and then you can suggest any order for this elective position. After recording the rules, the leader announces them again and checks if everyone agrees with them; if not, the rule is struck out.
What else does the leader do? Monitors the regulations, the discussion in line with the meeting’s goal, and the order of speeches. What happens if no leader is elected? Everyone will forget about the regulations, and those making remarks might be resented or angered. That’s the whole point of having rules and a leader. If everyone unanimously accepts the rules, and then the leader calls for their enforcement and makes remarks, then no one takes offense because the rules are the rules.
What could the rules be? For example:
Elect the leader alphabetically Speaking time regulation - 3 minutes Turn off mobile phones Ask permission before the meeting Conclude the meeting after an hour Make decisions by majority vote unless someone is categorically opposed Criticize no one, only express your own opinion on the meeting topic
Step 5. INITIATE THE PROCESS.
The process of finding a solution involves each person speaking in turns: 1st round for clarifying questions, 2nd round for expressing their emotions, 3rd round for sharing their understanding of the solution.
How it happens:
Each person takes a turn to express their opinion; if someone finds it difficult to speak, they can skip their turn. However, it’s hard to describe what happens during the discussion because if everyone follows the rules, a miracle always occurs, and important meanings are born. Sometimes they have a very strong impact. It’s always a miracle when ordinary people, not particularly noted for creativity or boldness, come up with very interesting ideas that are truly important and needed. Both physicists and psychologists agree, calling this phenomenon “flow.”
We’ve all read and heard, and maybe even worked in companies that take employees out of town for creative breakthroughs, load them with physical activities, or, conversely, feed them delicacies and pump them with coffee. To invigorate the employees, organizers make them blow soap bubbles or wear hero costumes. However, the key to managing a group is not this, but the absence of criticism and the presence of respect and regulation. It’s unimaginable how high a person can soar if they are listened to with respect.
Step 6. PROVIDE A CHOICE OF SOLUTIONS.
How to make a decision: – the decision is made by the person who set the goal or request; – if the decision is collective, the option with the fewest objections is chosen; – discuss possibilities for refining the decision.
Rules for making decisions should be agreed upon “onshore,” when all the rules are discussed. A decision can be made by a majority of votes, or by a minority if no one strongly objects, unanimously, or your option.
Tip 1. The ideal scenario is when the decision is made by the person who set the goal. This person intuitively understands whether a certain solution is suitable or not.
Tip 2. If the issue concerns the entire collective, it is rare for everyone to reach a complete unity of opinion. To avoid stalling the entire process, most decisions in this case can be accepted as relatively suitable if there are no categorically dissenting opinions and the rest agree “in general.” Then it can be stipulated that from time to time, changes will be made to the decisions at other meetings.
Tip 3. It’s okay if no decision is reached. This means that either more time is needed for discussion or the issue needs clarification and refinement.
Step 7. END THE MEETING
Ending the meeting:
The leader thanks everyone;
Participants share their impressions of the meeting in one sentence each;
Participants express their wishes in one word;
Surprise)))
End the meeting precisely on schedule, even if no decision has been reached. It’s better to postpone the issue to another meeting than to “drag on” with people. If you decide to extend the meeting, do it just a little and with the permission of the entire collective.
In the end, everyone should say something important, like their impression or something positive. The leader thanks everyone in any case.