“We haven’t started marketing to get th
e phone to ring because I’m waiting on the attorney to approve the brochure color.”
“We still haven’t hired a p/t helper to add leads to our newsletter because the attorney hasn’t approved the job description.”
Any of this sound familiar?
I know, as a business owner, you want to scream, “Just make a decision!” As the employee, you want to scream, “Just look at it and approve it!” So who are the decision makers? Or do we all make decisions and run every aspect of the business by committee? We are a business of two people, we are not a big corporation where we have to “wait for upstairs” to sign off. So why in the world can we never seem to get decisions made quickly, efficiently and in real time? We lie awake at 2 a.m. worrying, week in and month out, about getting clients, paying bills and getting work out the door. This is typically the breeding ground for overwhelm and shutdown. It is why most businesses, and people, remain stuck and feel like it’s Groundhog Day, again.
So what’s the enchanted way out of this cycle?
1. Declare who the decision maker is, regardless of whether people get back to you with their input, feedback, etc.
2. Once you have determined who the decision maker is – come up with a deadline for when people have to give their input/feedback etc. about a pending decision. This cannot be more than one week, and you MUST state the date and time. Anyone who doesn’t offer their input by then will forgo their opinion and their vote.
3. On the deadline date, make a decision and move forward.
4. Hardwire into everyone’s calendar each week a standing one-hour appointment for “decision making.” This allows all reviewers to review and meet their deadlines so the decision maker can take immediate action. Take this hour every week to decide the actions needed to move the small business forward vs. defaulting to “I didn’t have the time.”
These micro shifts will move mountains, one small step at a time. There are no longer overwhelming, daunting “projects.” There are no longer projects at all, because it becomes a part of your weekly world.
If you are struggling with choosing a decision maker on your already existing team, or with how you go about training or hiring one in your business, contact us at info@yeschick.com to take advantage of our complimentary 30-minute Breakthrough Discovery call. You will walk away with our FREE The Decision Making Model™ tool – an elimination process for no longer being at the mercy of “processing” when faced with the decision to make a decision, instead of spinning in a place of “I don’t know how.” This streamlined decision-making process eradicates the habit of “processing” and replaces it with a method of think, process, decide and trust the risk and reward.
By Molly Hall
molly@yeschick.com
