Managing Ambiguity

• Hamper decision-making. Where information is unclear and objectives are uncertain, people can be fearful of making the wrong decision. A typical response is to procrastinate and delay making the decision in the hope that more useful information will become available. In extreme cases, decision-making can be completely paralyzed. In this situation, productivity grinds to a halt and projects cannot move forward.
• Increase risk. The pressure to make a decision when faced with ambiguity can also create the opposite of the above scenario. People may take unnecessary risks by making quick, ill-informed decisions in an attempt to move things forward. Although research shows that risky decision-making can pay off in some contexts (notably for entrepreneurial start-up businesses), in an organizational context the stakes are higher for those unused to balancing intuition and ingenuity to make judgements.[2]

• Increase workloads. Where a decision is taken on the basis of incomplete information, this can result in unnecessary or inappropriate work being done. In a team situation, this generates more work for everyone where tasks need to be re-visited or started again.
• Create stress. Pressure to make a decision (and anxiety about making the wrong decision) can raise stress levels for those charged with making the decision. Wrong decisions cause stress in relation to missed deadlines, increased budgets and reduced confidence in the decision-maker’s leadership or management ability.

Reducing Ambiguity

Lessening the impact of ambiguity involves a dual approach to:

1. reduce ambiguity wherever possible
2. remain productive while ambiguity exists

This can be achieved by:

• Being informed. In some cases, ambiguity can be diminished simply by asking for more information or clarification. When receiving information or instructions, ask for specifics wherever possible. Remember that information can be lost or misinterpreted as it moves through an organization, so ensure that communications to colleagues and team members are as precise as possible. Consider whether knowledge of a particular situation can be improved by utilizing management reporting or business information tools.[3] Although it is important to be well informed, gathering too much data can waste time and create an information overload which adds little value to the decision-making process.
• Remembering that no decisions are perfect. With any decision, there is always a margin for error. Managing ambiguity calls for the ability to overcome the need for absolute perfection and strike a balance between taking time to think things through and taking action. Although some decisions won’t please everyone, fear of criticism should not become a smokescreen for unnecessary delay.
• Getting organized. When faced with ambiguity, people can often become hampered by trivial issues rather than focusing on what is most important. Prioritizing tasks in order of importance from one to ten, and then organizing work appropriately will maintain a sense of perspective.

• Breaking it down. If ambiguity has halted progress, it can be helpful to take a step back and break a large decision or problem down into a series of smaller components. Gathering information and making decisions about smaller issues (and gathering feedback on these) can gradually make a larger problem become clearer.
• Stepping out of the comfort zone. Effective management of ambiguity rarely occurs where people stick to tried and tested approaches, processes and precedents. Try to look at situations from a fresh perspective and don’t be afraid to try something different. Examples might include introducing a new or modified procedure or assembling a different project team.
• Using coping mechanisms to minimize stress. People respond to ambiguity in different ways. Developing an awareness of how you deal with uncertainty and developing appropriate coping mechanisms can go a long way towards diffusing stressful situations. For example, adopting a positive outlook towards criticism and accepting it as part of the learning process can be beneficial.
• Learning from different situations. The ability to deal with ambiguity effectively is improved where people take time to reflect on their experiences and consider which approaches were successful and which were less so. Integrating new learning into future behavior can help to reduce the impact of ambiguity.

Conclusion

It is important to recognize that ambiguity is a natural organizational state, as markets, budgets, work projects and priorities are rarely set in stone. Although leaders and managers cannot change the fact that ambiguity exists, changing their attitudes towards it and how they choose to deal with it in practice can go a long way towards improving their decision-making capability.