By Nilesh Bhagat, CHRP

Picture yourself in the context of your work team. Think about what your role is and what kind of relationships you have with each member. Now take the following three behaviors and think about which approach you’d take if your team was given a project to complete:

1. You would take control, set a plan and see to it that the objectives are met;
2. You would let the project unfold, take on responsibility as it fit with respect to project demands and lead to the best of your ability behind the scenes;
3. You would sit back and take responsibility as it is assigned.

Now let’s throw in a little curve and alter the scenario: your team is confronted with an emergency project – a crisis situation – where action is critical. Something needs to happen and fast or the reputation of the team and its individual members may suffer.

Which of the above behaviors would you take on now?

My answer to this question, initially, was to take control by setting out a plan and directing to completion of the task. I’d have the urge to step in and make it happen – much is on the line and I need to be certain that it gets done. Why? For one thing, my recent past experience is in the context of academic projects, where my grade was on the line and there was a strong chance I wouldn’t be reunited with any group members after; the perfect recipe for the urge to take control and shape my future behavior.

Brain science is also on my side. David Rock, author of Your Brain at Work, describes our behavior from the perspective of ‘toward’ and ‘away’ tendencies. Our brains assess situations as either rewarding or threatening and we behave – physiologically and psychologically – accordingly.  

An element which regulates these drives is certainty and a sense of control brings about positive feelings of certainty.  When confronted with a stressful situation – a crisis, for example – our thinking becomes acute as we try to regain a sense of control, quickly. It’s flight or fight at its finest.

The unfortunate part of this type of response is that it can be irrational; we tend to ignore the long term implications of our decisions at the expense of satisfying instinct right then and there.

I thought a lot about my initial answer well after the question was posed. If I could answer it again, I’d say, “it depends…” Is the team one that will endure beyond the crisis? Will my behaviors negatively shape the perception of other stakeholders of the project? If so, relationships matter and organic control (the second choice) is the best.

Of course everyone’s answer will vary, but what I think is universal is that the stage before deciding – your assessment of the situation – is crucial to determining the longer term implications of your decision. It’s easy to get lost in the moment and go with the decision that benefits you then and there; however, you have to wonder how it will shape longer term relationships, perceptions and outcomes. We are all living in a connected world, after all, so what goes around might well come around.

Nilesh Bhagat, CHRP, is the membership and CHRP administrator at BC HRMA. After several gruelling years in school, Nilesh graduated in October 2010 from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, First Class Honours. He majored in Human Resources Management and tacked on an extended minor in Psychology. He’s a self-confessed nerd (the first step is admitting), likes to read, loves hockey and is struggling with the complexities of learning the game of golf.