If you have ever been in a meeting of experts where you have to decide between option X or option Z, you have probably noticed that for some of them, it is much easier than for others to make a decision and select one alternative over the other. Some people are faster in deciding, while others could take several hours or even days to make a decision. Both types of people are necessary for a team or organization. However, I am careful to know what kind of tasks to assign to each team member according to their predominant nature.
I decided to classify both types into two simple groups. It is an extreme simplification of a complex process such as decision-making (I know). But for this blog post, I prefer to keep it simple and make the message easier to understand. The first group is those who find it easy to make decisions. I call them “the practical” group. The second group is those who take a long time because they cover every detail. I decided to call them the analyticals.
The practicals tend to understand quickly and simplify the objectives. This group makes decisions based on current conditions and resources available. They use simple criteria. Such as Is it within the budget? Does it solves the problem, Is there minimal collateral damage? By going through this simple exercise, their approach is straightforward, then deciding on an alternative is faster.
The Analytic group also understands the problems and objectives, unlike the previous group, it tends to get more complicated by adding more complex scenarios and even specific cases that might not even occur: Things go through their mind like does it meet the objective, is it efficient in doing so, how does the manufacturer measure efficiency, what are the opinions about the product, are there existing use cases, does it scale, what additional features does it offer, what is the warranty, is the support service 24/7 or only during some hours of the day, are there associated maintenance costs. As you can see, the validation list is more extensive, causing the decision-making process to take hours or even days.
When I am involved in design and conceptualization projects where time is not a constraint, I like to work with people from the analytics group. The dimension and value that these people bring to the projects are exceptional. They respond to the basic needs, meet the objectives, and go beyond by considering different scenarios that create a robust solution. In design projects where time is critical, I make sure that there is a balance between the number of practical and analytical people involved. I do it to prevent any blocked processes due to critical analysis.
If the job or project I am working on is mainly operational, of short duration, and requires an almost immediate response, I prefer to work with practical people. In these scenarios, the last thing I want is to have a tedious person looking for the tiniest details and creating setbacks. However, if the job or project requires specific execution or safety considerations, I would love to have at least one analytical person on my team. These individuals will remember which forms we should fill in. They will know which procedure we should not forget, and they will prevent us from making mistakes during the execution.
If you are preparing to lead teams or you already have some time doing it. Learning to identify the nature of your team members will help you to group them better and assign them tasks more efficiently according to the situation or problem to be solved. When you are back in a meeting, start placing your team members according to the classification I have just presented. In a future article, I will write about a slightly more elaborate theory of personalities, which will allow you to improve and hone your management skills.