Do you know what managers make? Something that matters to the company and the team they manage? They make decisions, and if they are good decisions, positive business results will follow soon.When a manager recognizes a particular business challenge and defines it accurately, he or she is well on the way to making effective decisions.There are dozens of tools and techniques to help you get organized at all stages of your decision-making procedure. Some of the most popular options used by managers are the indispensable analysis of SWOT, PEST, Pareto and cost-benefit analysis.
The process of effective decision making
According to the world-renowned Harvard Business Review Magazine, if you follow these 7 steps you will make business decisions far faster and more efficiently.
1. Write down 5 business goals that will be influenced by your decision. After doing this, avoid the trap of over-analyzing the goals themselves.
2. Write down at least four realistic alternative options. Expanding your choices leads to better decision-making for most businesses.This phase, also known as the decision matrix, helps to evaluate all your options. If you are using this matrix, it is recommended that you create a table with all the options in the first column and all the factors that influence the decision in the first row. Then determine each option and evaluate which factors are more important. The final result of the summation reveals which option is the best.
3. Write down what important information you are missing. Do not let what you know distract you from what you do not know, and thus influence you to make the best decision for your business.
4. Write down your own predictions of the future, both good and bad. Through the plans of your expectations, you will identify various possible scenarios and therefore all options available to you.
In this step, the T – chart, also known as creating a pros and cons, can be helpful.
This chart serves to better assess the benefits and disadvantages of possible outcomes. This technique ensures that all the positives and negatives are taken into account when making your final decision..
5. Include at least two but no more than six members from the team. Research shows that more prospects reduce bias and increase earning potential.
This approach is known in English as multi-voting and is used when more people are involved in making a decision.
6. Write down all team decisions, also why and how much the team supports the decisions. Then lay the basis for measuring the results.
7. Schedule follow-up results in a few months. The tendency to forget decisions once they have been made sometimes lead to failing to make corrections, as well as failing to learn from previous experiences.
Despite the importance of decision-making, only a small number of managers have a regular habit of monitoring their results. If it is normal to track the costs and revenues of a business, clicks on the web and various reports, why not keep track of the most important thing managers make – decisions.
Smart decisions precede successful businesses
In order to achieve certain organizational goals, managers use available resources in the decision-making process. Resources are the input of every business process, while goals are the output. Their relationship shows the degree of success and productivity of each firm or organization.
In order for employees to be more productive, it is up to these leaders and managers to enable them through the various decisions they make. One of those decisions is the one about sitting order in the office. A good seating plan directly influences faster collaboration and better information flow, which is directly reflected in the more valuable and creative results that employees deliver.