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As with many aspects of a leader’s or manager’s role, decision-making can be a complex and challenging process, often fraught with potential pitfalls. Following the suggestions here will help you to avoid these obstacles and ensure that you continue to reach and implement decisions effectively.
Make Sure You’re Deciding About the Right Issues
Before you embark on making your decision, ask yourself whether you are thinking about the right issue or problem. A critical first step is to clearly define the decision that needs to be made. The need for decisions to be made often stems from organizational problems and challenges, so ensure that you fully understand the nature of the issue before moving forward. You can do this by gathering information on how the problem is affecting people now, and asking a range of people for their perspectives on it.
For example, if your current recruitment processes are slow and ineffective, you may need to decide whether to use an outsourced service instead. However, before making your decision, you (with the help of others) should take some time to define the nature of the current problem fully to ensure that any decision will address the root cause of the problem. The Five Whys is a useful technique you can use at the beginning of a decision-making process to drill down to the exact nature of a problem. [1]
Don’t Jump in at the Deep End
It might be tempting to rush into making a decision, particularly if it is urgent. Unless you have an extremely pressing deadline which cannot be moved, it is always worth taking some time to carefully consider the issue and to contemplate the options available. During this time you might find it helpful to put your initial thoughts down on paper, identify the first two or three actions you need to take, or arrange a meeting with the colleagues or team members with whom you need to liaise.
Consider the Problem From Several Perspectives
It can be all too easy to view a situation from only your own perspective, particularly if you have very strong feelings about it. Before making your decision, it is important to make sure you have considered the problem from a range of different perspectives, including those of the colleagues, teams or departments your decision might affect. Why not make a list of the people who are going to be affected and the likely impact? For example:
- Will colleagues have more work to do?
- Will processes and procedures need to be changed?
- Will teams or departments require training in order to be able to start doing things differently?
Taking account of multiple perspectives and developing awareness of the potential consequences for others will help you reach a more balanced, objective decision that takes all the relevant parties into account.
Don’t Get Complacent
While it is good to be a confident decision-maker, it is important to avoid becoming overconfident in your abilities. Even the most accomplished decision-makers still need to follow some best practice principles in order to continue making decisions effectively. Even if you have made many successful decisions in the past, try not to let recent successes cloud your judgment. Always ensure that you have all the facts and that you plan things as you normally would. Although some decisions may feel familiar, remember to take account of changes to the circumstances and environment in which you are working.
Be Thorough
Don’t be tempted to skimp on your analysis of data or cut corners in other parts of the decision-making process, as this can allow errors to creep in. When it comes to doing your research and gathering information, it is important to strike the right balance between being too methodical and amassing mountains of data, and being too hasty with your decision-making.
Be Wary of Shortcuts
For difficult or time-consuming decisions, it can be tempting to choose short-term fixes over longer-term, but potentially more complex, solutions. Equally, it might seem easier to allow loose, unwritten ‘rules of thumb’ to guide your decisions, rather than taking the time to source the information you really need (e.g. ‘I only need to address a team member’s absence if it occurs more than twice a month’). When faced with these types of shortcuts, it is important to be vigilant and ask yourself whether they really will help you make the right decision in the long term.
Don’t Ignore Unpleasant Findings
There may be times when you might be on the verge of making a decision, but at the last minute come across some new information that makes you think twice. Although it might be tempting to do so, it is vital not to disregard these kinds of developments. You should take all relevant information into account, even if it doesn’t support the views you previously held. Ignoring unpleasant or inconvenient details might be tempting in the short term, but in the long term it can have negative consequences.
Take Steps to Prevent ‘Groupthink’
When making decisions as part of a group, it can be very easy for members to become influenced by others, and to simply agree with them, rather than speaking up if they have doubts or alternative ideas. A good way to prevent this from happening is to ask everyone to prepare their thoughts and suggestions independently before presenting them to the group. This will help to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to express themselves and the group has a wide range of solutions and ideas to consider.
Sense Check Your Decisions
An important part of the decision-making process involves sense-checking the final outcome. Remember that decisions can be affected by our own internal bias, assumptions that are formed during the decision-making process and, of course, our emotions. Consequently, decisions may not always be made objectively. Once you have arrived at a decision, it is important to take a step back from it and consider whether it makes sense to you on an intuitive, instinctive basis as well as on a factual, rational one. Weigh up the decision based on your own experience, take time to thoroughly review your process and explore any doubts you may have about the decision itself.
Learn From Your Experiences
As a manager or leader, you will be required to make several different decisions in the course of a busy working day. As a result, it can be all too easy to move from scenario to scenario without taking the time to consider what lessons you have learned from your various decision-making experiences. To help you do this, it is a good idea to keep a written record of these experiences in a decision-making ‘diary’ or ‘top tips’ document. This will serve as a helpful reminder of what you do well in decision-making scenarios, as well as the areas you might need to develop.
References[1] You can find out more about the
Five Whys Technique here (accessed 28 July 2023).
