Questions and Answers

We argue a lot during our planning meetings. How can we be more effective at building consensus?

First of all, recognize that arguing (in a respectful manner) is healthy. Your planning team should be comprised of managers that bring a variety of both functional and personal perspectives to the table. Healthy debate over your company's key issues is a critical part of the planning process and should be encouraged. It is also central in determining where you lack consensus. It is important, however to recognize where you need to have debates and where you don't. The various numerical rating exercises within Simplified Strategic Planning are very useful in highlighting where there are significant differences on critical topics. It is in these areas that you should focus your "respectful arguments". You should also understand that you will not have perfect agreement on everything. At some point the leader may need to make a decision that allows the team to move on. Finally we frequently observe that most debates go on longer than necessary. Key points are usually brought to the table in the first 5-10 minutes of a debate. What follows is usually redundant and political in nature. Often an outside process leader can help in avoiding lengthy debates that become repetitive.

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