The Business Value of Making Smart Decisions

…significant decisions are seldom made in the moment by one manger or in one meeting.

Think back on the last critical decision you faced at work. A lot was riding on your choice, yet the best alternative was probably not clear. There were trade-offs to be made. What’s more, you knew the path you chose would have a real impact on your company and its people. How did you feel when making that decision? And afterward? Was you choice a good one?

The higher the states in the business world, the more charged the decision-making process becomes. To make the smartest decisions, you need to take the mystery out of the process and make it more of a science. Understanding the eight steps to an effective decision can help. From setting the stage for a particular decisions and recognizing common obstacles, to generating and evaluating alternatives an communicating the final decision to stakeholders. Finding guidelines for assessing your overall decision-making approach will allow you to continually strengthen it as you gain experience making business decisions.

As a manager, you are faced with decisions every day. Some decisions are straightforward, such a deciding which team member to assign to a specific project. Others are more complex, such as selecting a new vendor or deciding to discontinue a product due to weak sales.

Many managers tend to view decision making as an event—a choice to be made at a single point in time. Usually by an individual or a small group. In reality, however, significant decisions are seldom made in the moment by one manger or in one meeting. Simply put decision making is a social or group process that unfolds over time.

ACTION POINT: Take the mystery out of decision making by recognizing it as more of science that is a social process that unfolds over time.