We’ve all been in the meeting that comes to a screeching halt when a decision point has been reached and the room is split. It feels like you’ve smacked into a brick wall.
Deadlock. Now what?
First off, recognize that where you are as a group is better than where you could be. At least you have a decision before you. That tells me you have viable options. Consider that those options represent progress.
Now you need to work the process. Here are the steps.
1. Establish Selection Criteria
When trying to pick among two or more reasonable options, the group first needs to decide what criteria it will use to make its decision. Here are some common criteria: Easiest to implement, most likely to be approved by upper management, cheapest, quickest fix, biggest impact on the problem, etc.
One reason deadlocks happen is because people have different ideas about the goals. Let me give you an example. Take a political convention that is considering who, if anyone, it should endorse. There are three viable candidates. After a couple ballots, the convention is split between two options. The two sides have dug in, each believing they have the better candidate.
Now imagine before taking another vote, the convention has a debate about which is the most important criteria people should be considering when they vote. It turns out there are two biggies. Depending on which the convention believes is most important will move the vote one way or another. They are:
- Most likely to win in the general election
- Most likely to be a successful legislator
Sure people may still vote the way they did before, but at least discussing the value of the possible criteria can help the group break a deadlock.
2. Let Everyone Have a Say
Once the two or three competing ideas have been identified, ask everyone to share an opinion about each. You might ask folks to point out the strengths and weaknesses of each proposal. Ask them which they would choose if they were limited to just one. Ask if there are any that they could not live with. By going one at a time and letting everyone talk, the group typically gains a couple new insights and the best answer often emerges naturally.
Another benefit to this step is that people are much more willing to be flexible in their position after they feel like they’ve had the chance to fully make their case and after people respectful listened to understand.
3. Change Your Acceptance Standard
Instead of choosing the one that everyone believes is best, look for the one that has the broadest levels of support. There is a difference. If I am asked to choose the best among five options, I might think option four should be chosen. But when asked which I would support, I might select all except option two. You may find that the group is split on the best choice, but has a lot of consensus about one option when asked if they could support it.
Keep a Deadlock from Stalling Your Meeting
When you have a deadlock, a decision won’t come easy. By implementing these three strategies, you increase the odds of arriving at one and decrease the amount of time it takes to get there.
