While our organizational chart provides clarity as to the managerial reporting relationships between our staff and the main areas of responsibility, it doesn’t actually reveal how we desire to make decisions as an organization on a consistent basis.
The best decisions emerge from collaborative teams where the best idea in the room wins — regardless of title, seniority, or the number of letters behind someone’s name. Healthy teams consistently generate the kinds of debates and discussions that surface the best ideas! A well-led and focused meeting agenda can help foster effective team discussions at every meeting.
As a result, we aim for a culture that emphasizes healthy teams because the best ideas almost always require compromise. Compromise and complexity also require extra effort to communicate well — because the best ideas can’t be finalized until everyone exercises their right to information, input, approval, or oversight as detailed in the 5 Levels of Authority & Communication grid.
<aside> <img src="/icons/copy_gray.svg" alt="/icons/copy_gray.svg" width="40px" /> Duplicate this template to get started with your team meeting agenda:
</aside>
For more info, check out our: Team Meeting Agendas page!
Despite our best efforts to make the best decisions collaboratively with healthy teams, miscommunication happens when we wrestle through complex decisions that impact so many. Staff rarely revolve around losing a specific decision; frustration stems from a lack of proper involvement in the process.
Properly involved decision-making happens:
<aside> <img src="/icons/thought_gray.svg" alt="/icons/thought_gray.svg" width="40px" /> “Clarity is kindness.” – Brené Brown
</aside>