Nov 11, 2020
Business is dynamic and so are decisions - as circumstances change, our decision-making has to change as well. Are there decisions you’re making passively? That is, decisions you’re making by simply allowing the status quo to continue or allowing someone in your organization to ‘take care of it’ without forethought or proper compensation?
This happens in our personal lives all the time - partners negotiate who is going to be a primary parent to their children at different times (drop-offs, pick-ups, emergency calls) as well as who is going to be responsible for different tasks at home. That is, partners negotiate the work of living: dishes, laundry, trash, calling the pest control guy because there are raccoons in the attic again. Often, partnerships negotiate these responsibilities passively, with one party simply doing the work and the other person not even seeing the way the work benefits them. This leads to resentment and contention - all of which can be avoided with open communication and negotiation.
The same thing happens in your business when Jan from accounting is the only person who cleans out the breakroom refrigerator or coordinates staff birthday cakes. It might seem like the stakes are pretty low here, but a year or two of unacknowledged labor will cause problems. Michelle and JoyGenea discuss what you can do to be more active in decision making and how to prevent these issues from creating resentment and undermining your team’s culture.