Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

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Unfocused meetings. Competing priorities. Confusion over who gets to make the final call. These are often signs that your organization has poorly designed decision-making processes. Rather than treating the symptoms, you can take on the system itself.

o Start by breaking down the types of decisions being made across your organization, then determine who should make which ones.

o Distribute decision rights thoughtfully to ensure everyone is clear on the boundaries of their departments and roles. Of course, no one makes decisions in a vacuum, and we often have to rely on others to execute our choices.

o Make sure to connect anyone who’s impacted by the decision to ensure effective coordination. You might need to identify liaisons to other teams, create shared calendars, or develop online portals where meeting minutes are posted.

o Finally, be sure to build in metrics to monitor how effective decisions are. Regularly assess what’s working and what’s not, and make changes accordingly.

This tip is adapted from “How Systems Support (or Undermine) Good Decision-Making,” by Ron Carucci

Here’s a direct link to dozens of other Management Tips.