DON'T BE HASTY IN QUESTIONING COMPANY SPEED.

Byline: Ken LLoyd On the Job

Q.People in our company tend to spend countless hours reviewing and analyzing every minor detail before they make any decisions on anything. This makes me very impatient, and I'd like to find a way to speed things up. Is that possible in this type of company? A.W.

A. You are in a company that is suffering from what is called ``analysis paralysis.''

The leadership in companies like yours typically has deep underlying fears of making a mistake, and their approach is to look at every possible permutation associated with each decision or action before making a move. The problem is that this excessive fixation with analysis can actually prevent the company from taking action when it should.

For example, companies that get entangled in the web of decision-making often miss opportunities that call for rapid decision-making. By the time the meetings are over, so is the opportunity.

However, to your company's way of thinking and thinking, although the rewards of their projects may not be as great as those that accrue to faster moving entities, their risks are lower because their knowledge base allows them to make wiser decisions. They would rather miss the right train than get on the wrong one.

If you have any great thoughts of turning your pensive company into a go-go operation, you should think again. The deliberative style that typifies the culture of your firm is shaped by the topside leaders, and the employees who emulate their careful and thorough approach to work will be rewarded, and those who do not will either change their style or change jobs.

In some firms, your desire to speed up the decision-making process may be viewed as goal-oriented, energetic, and dynamic behavior; in your company, it is more likely to be viewed as a disruption.

So, unless the board of directors has recently advised you that you will soon be assuming the role of CEO, it is extremely unlikely that you will be able to do much about the way that decisions are made. This means that the next decision is actually yours.

Q. Our department manager has nicknames for all of us. They're not derogatory or insulting, they're just annoying. However, none of us want to confront him. Should we just live with them? E.S.

A. Your manager has either spent too much time watching ``Top Gun,'' or he is spending too much time trying to relive his college fraternity days. Either way, he is not spending too much time reading about management.

Nicknames are supposed to create an aura of camaraderie, teamwork, unity and fun. In many cases, the do just that, particularly for children and adolescents. On most youth soccer teams these days, there's hardly a child called by his or her given name. Neither is a referee, but that's an entirely different story.

On the surface, your manager's practice of nicknaming each member of the department appears to be a reflection of his spontaneity, creativity and desire to bring fun to the job. Beneath this facade, he is actually flexing his power over you. As the giver of names, he is demonstrating that he is the parental figure, and you are the children.

There is also a message in the way that a name is given to the employee in the first place. You were probably not called into his office to select your nickname from a list of flattering descriptors. More than likely, the manager unilaterally pinned a label on you. The underlying message is that this is the way that departmental decisions are to be made, and this probably underlies your reluctance to take any action.

However, when there is an issue that is upsetting the entire department, it's definitely time for a meeting with the manager. The best approach is for two or three of you to meet with him, remembering that you are having a discussion, not a confrontation.

In this meeting, you can instantly grab his attention by using words that have a strong emotional charge for managers: Tell him that there is an issue that is interfering with productivity, communication and satisfaction for all the employees in the department. Then go right to the point: The nicknames are disturbing and distracting the group, and things would work a lot better if they were lost.

MEMO: Ken LLoyd, Ph.D., is a specialist in organizational behavior. Questions can be sent by electronic mail to LloydOnJobaol.com, or they can be mailed to P.O. Box 260057, Encino, CA 91426. Names will be withheld upon request.