Please respond to your peer’s post. Write in 1st person

• What are the decision-making criteria that leaders should apply when deciding which organizational change initiatives to pursue and which ones not to pursue? Why?

There are steps that change leaders should parse through as they decide which initiatives to pursue. Mike Figliuolo (2015) lists five simple questions that are integral to answering at the beginning of a decision-making process:

1. What is the desired outcome? The change leaders have established different needs and problems and now they must start developing what they hope to change with this decision.

2. What choices are we trying to make? It is important to be clear and direct when defining these choices. 

3. What are the possible choices we can choose from? We must allow for all possibilities to ensure that we have the resources to support each choice. 

4. What is the timeline? It is important to establish an estimated timeline to get a clear sense of how long this could affect the organization, and how long it may take to provide a solution. 

5. Who will this decision affect? We want to make sure that we have an idea of who may be affected so that the scope of the project can be understood and taken into consideration before any changes are made. 

Once these questions have been answered, the decision-making leaders can decide which organizational changes best fit what solutions they are trying to find now and the time and resources they have available to dedicate to the project. Without properly answering these questions, change leaders will not have an appropriate idea of what changes would be worth pursuing which leads to more time wasted.

• In comparing a data-driven approach like Lean Six Sigma to a participatory approach like Future Search or an experiential approach like Design Thinking, which makes more sense for the types of changes you are hoping to drive in your organization? Why?

Within my organization, the main problems come from diminished numbers in our processing department. With fewer processors, orders do not get picked and shipped out until later at night. Occasionally, because the processing takes too long, some packages do not get shipped out in time for the last delivery truck to leave. As someone in the picking tech department, it is frustrating experiencing a lot of down time during the day only to be overwhelmed with work at our evening deadlines. For this reason, I feel as if a participatory approach would be most beneficial. Future Searchs design of bringing together every group that is affected by a certain decision led me to thinking that having representatives from each of the departments within our organization join in a discussion about their daily patterns would be useful to change leaders and management. The representative from the picking department could detail a typical day in our department and other departments can describe theirs as well. Perhaps it could lead to a solution to more efficiently process and spread work over the whole day for a better chance at meeting our delivery deadlines. 

Figliuolo, M. (2015, March 6). Decision-making strategies. [Video file]. Retrieved from LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/decision-making-strategies/accelerate-your-decision-making?u=95141346 

What are the decision-making criteria that leaders should apply when deciding which organizational change initiatives to pursue and which ones not to pursue? Why?

Figliuolo (2015) defines decision making as the process of selecting a choice from a range of possible options with the goal of achieving a very specific objective. Leaders must understand what they are trying to achieve as they make a particular decision, the urgency of making the decision, and the size or impact of that decision. Figliulolo (2015) explains that not defining the decision can lead to unclear objectives, missed opportunities, miscommunication, confusion, and frustration. Leaders should also determine the appropriate stakeholders to involve in the decision-making. When stakeholders are involved, it is essential to define everyones role is in making the decision and identify who is responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. Next, leaders should ensure that ambiguity and risks are reduced as much as possible by understanding where uncertainty resides and gathering information. Once the decision is made, it must be appropriately communicated, executed, and measured. The consistent theme that seems to be prevalent throughout Figiuolos teachings is the importance of reducing ambiguity and risk as much as possible when making your decision. 

In comparing a data-driven approach like Lean Six Sigma to a participatory approach like Future Search or an experiential approach like Design Thinking, which makes more sense for the types of changes you are hoping to drive in your organization? Why?

I believe Lean Six Sigma is the process improvement methodology that would make the most sense for my organization. Human Resources is a functional area where many would not think to apply a process improvement methodology. However, I believe that HR is perfect for process improvement, as it is an area providing operations that can lead to more efficient and effective services that would greatly benefit the entire organization.  For example, I work in HR and my organization has grappled with staffing shortages, which has been made worse by the ongoing pandemic.  Using Lean Six Sigma, HR could employ data driven metrics to reduce controllable turnover, reduce time to hire, and increase participation in wellness programs.  These are all changes that can help eliminate waste and make our processes more efficient.

Reference:

Figliuolo, M. (2015, March 6). Decision-making strategies. [Video file]. Retrieved from LinkedIn Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/decision-making-strategies/accelerate-your-decision-making?u=95141346