Whether you call them off-sites, huddles, work sessions, or simply meetings, there will be numerous times when you bring together key personnel with specific objectives in mind. Perhaps to wrestle with complex issues such as the selection of a location for a new plant, an acquisition target, or the hiring of a key individual. Often, even when the expected outcome is agreed, objectives are not realized because there isn't a clear path or process that will be followed, leaving room for personal biases, positional influence, emotion etc to come to the fore.

 

Suppose you get a team together to make a decision to "Select which new products to offer to the marketplace this quarter". Each team member will have their own perspective, in terms of the products to offer, their rationale and the process by which the decision will be made. The result? You spend most of your meeting discussing how to make a decision or go straight into arguing why your own pet favorites are the best.