Effective
Decision Making
Session starts at 2pm
HELLO!
I am Karen Maher
I am an experienced HR consultant and workforce
development specialist originally from the North East
of England.
I specialise in coaching, mentoring, mediation and
training delivery. I deliver QQI accredited courses
including People Management, Supervisory
Management and Medical Secretaries
I am also qualified to administer and deliver
psychometric tests including EQi2 (Emotional
Intelligence) and MBTI (Personality Types).
Overview
Applying a robust decision-making process
Types of decisions
Steps to making decisions
Factors effecting decisions
Challenges of making a good decision
Group decision making
Problem solving
Communicating the decision
Assessing decisions made
Decision Making
Decision making is the process
of making choices by gathering
information and assessing alternative
resolutions.
Using a step-by-step decision-
making process can help you make more
deliberate, thoughtful decisions by
organising relevant information and
defining alternatives.
Decision Making
What kind of decisions do
you make everyday?
How do you arrive at those
decisions?
Types of Decisions
1. Personal and Organisational Decisions
Decisions to watch television, to study are examples of
personal decisions. They affect the organisation in an
indirect way. Personal decisions cannot be delegated
and have a limited impact.
Organisational decisions are made in an official
capacity. They are aimed at furthering the interests of
the organisation and can be delegated. While trying to
deliver value to the organisation, employees and
managers are expected to keep the interests of all
stakeholders also in mind. They need to take decisions
carefully so that all stakeholders benefit by what they
do
Types of Decisions
2. Individual and Group Decisions
Individual decisions are taken by a single individual.
They are mostly routine decisions.
Group decisions, on the other hand are decisions
taken by a group of individuals formed for a particular
purpose.
Group decisions, compared to individual decisions,
have far reaching consequences and impact a
number of persons and departments. They require
serious discussion, deliberation and debate.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of
group decision making?
Advantages
A group has more information than an individual. Members,
drawn from diverse fields, can provide more information and
knowledge about the problem.
A group can generate a greater number of alternatives. It can
bring to bear a wider experience, a greater variety of opinions and
more thorough probing of facts than a single individual.
Participation in group decisions increases acceptance and
commitment on the part of people who now see the solution as
their own.
People understand the decision better because they saw and
heard it develop.
Interaction between individuals with varied viewpoints leads to
greater creativity.
Disadvantages
Groups are notorious time-wasters. They may waste a lot of
time and energy getting organised.
Groups create pressures towards conformity; group think, force
members to compromise.
Presence of some group members, who are powerful and
influential may intimidate and prevent other members from
participating freely.
It may be costly to secure participation from several individuals
in the decision-making process.
The group consists of severed individuals and hence, it is easy to
avoid responsibility.
Types of Decisions
3. Programmed and Non-Programmed Decisions
A programmed decision is routine and repetitive. Rules and
policies are established in advance to solve recurring problems
quickly. For example a hospital establishes a procedure for
admitting new patients.
Programmed decisions leave no room for discretion. They have
to be followed in a certain way.
Non-programmed decisions deal with unusual problems. Such
problems crop up suddenly and there is no established
procedure or formula to resolve them. For examples deciding
whether to take over a unit, or restructure an organisation to
improve efficiency, or where to relocate. Managers need to be
creative when solving the infrequent problem and have to be
treated differently each time they occur.
Types of Decisions
4. Strategic, Administrative and Routine Decisions
Strategic decision-making is usually a senior management
responsibility. They are key, future-focused decisions affecting
many parts of an organisation.
Administrative decisions deal with operational issues—dealing
with how to get various aspects of strategic decisions
implemented smoothly at various levels in an organisation.
Routine decisions are repetitive in nature. They require little
deliberation and are generally concerned with short-term
commitments.
7 Steps to making a
decision
1 Identify a problem or opportunity
2 Gather information
3 Analyse the situation
4 Develop options
5 Evaluate alternatives
6 Select a preferred alternative
7 Act on the decision
Steps to making a decision
1 Identify a problem or opportunity
The first step is to recognise a problem or to see opportunities that
may be worthwhile.
Will it really make a difference to our customers?
How worthwhile will it be to solve this problem or realise this
opportunity?
2 Gather information
What is relevant and what is not relevant to the decision?
What do you need to know before you can make a decision, or that
will help you make the right one?
Who knows, who can help, who has the power and influence to make
this happen (or to stop it)?
Steps to making a decision
3 Analyse the situation
What alternative courses of action may be available to you?
What different interpretations of the data may be possible?
4 Develop options
Generate several possible options.
Be creative and positive.
Ask “what if” questions.
How would you like your situation to be?
5 Evaluate alternatives
What criteria should you use to evaluate?
Evaluate for feasibility, acceptability and desirability.
Which alternative will best achieve your objectives?
Steps to making a decision
6 Select a preferred alternative (Scenario planning)
Explore the provisional preferred alternative for future possible adverse consequences.
What problems might it create?
What are the risks of making this decision?
7 Act on the decision
Put a plan in place to implement the decision.
Have you allocated resources to implement?
Is the decision accepted and supported by colleagues?
Are they committed to making the decision work?
Barriers
What barriers do you
encounter when
trying to make
decisions?
Factors effecting decisions
Time
How quickly do you need a decision?
Sometimes the faster a decision is required, the more
people move towards a ‘do as I say’ approach.
Importance
What's at stake?
It is a different decision making process when it’s a
crucial business decision than when you're making a
minor choice. A good starting point is using a
participatory style, gaining broad input, feedback, and
perspective. it's important to let your team drive the
process and make the decision. It gives them the
experience-and the confidence-to tackle more difficult
decisions in the future.
Factors effecting decisions
Buy-in
How important is buy-in from your team for success?
The more you require your team to take ownership the more
relevant a participatory approach will be. If buy-in is not
critical and the decision is clear cut, then a direct style may
work .
Conflict
How controversial is the decision?
You may need to make tough choices, especially those that are
not often popular, obvious or unanimous. The more conflict
around a decision, the more critical it is to start with a
participatory style. This allows you to hear everyone's view
before moving forward through any conflict.
Decision Making
Concession Consensus
Giving way Effective decisions
Sacrificing the quality of the Genuine agreement
decision making in the Seeing and seeking others point
interests of group cohesion of view
Compromise Coercion
Meeting others Bull-dozing
Trading off Forcing own opinions through
Avoidance of real issues Domination by loudest
Poor decisions which satisfy members
nobody fully Quieter members inhibited
Challenges of Making a Decision
Information overload. Having a lot of information is often viewed as
beneficial, but if that information is not collated properly or only available via
a multitude of methods, processing it all can become overwhelming.
Not having enough information. Not having enough information to support
your decision is not good either; and you should be up to speed with all the
relevant information in order to come up with the best solution.
Misidentifying the problem. There will be times when the decision is complex
and you aren’t sure where the main issue lies, as the actual cause may be
elusive. Being able to conduct thorough research, receive useful data and
speak with internal experts could help.
Challenges of Making a Decision
Overconfidence in the outcome. You should identify realistic, viable, achievable
options rather than ones that are overly optimistic and unrealistic.
Impulsiveness. If decisions are taken too quickly you might inadvertently miss
important data or forget about the impact of some action on the team.
Opinions and objectivity. It is natural to involve other people in the decision-
making process, but you need to avoid falling for the halo or horns affect.
Review. If you make a decision, you will have to review and evaluate it to
understand if it has really been the correct one
Challenges of Making a Decision
Improving your Judgement
• Be aware of your biases
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html
• Review all the evidence
• Consider if you have observed evidence for each conclusion
• Debate if you have contradictory evidence
• Assess if you are using the competency standard for the judgement or
your internal standard
• Consider if you have allowed your feelings to sway your judgment
Problem Solving
Step 1 Evaluate the problem
Step 2 Manage the problem
Step 3 Make decisions
Step 4 Resolve problems
Step 5 Review the results
1. Evaluate the problem
Clarify the nature of a problem
Formulate questions
Gather information systematically
Collate and organise data
Condense and summarise information
Define the desired objective
2. Manage the problem
Use the information gathered effectively
Break down a problem into smaller, more manageable, parts
Use techniques such as brainstorming and lateral thinking to consider options
Analyse these options in greater depth
Identify steps that can be taken to achieve the objective
3. Make decisions
Decide between the possible options for what action to
take
Decide on further information to be gathered before taking
action
Decide on resources (time, funding, staff etc.) to be
allocated to this problem
4. Resolve the problem
Implement action
Provide information to other stakeholders; delegating
tasks
Review progress
5. Review the results
Monitoring the outcome of the action taken
Reviewing the problem and problem-solving
process to avoid similar situations in future
Identifying a problem
– Some tools
• The Five Whys
• Mind Mapping
• Brainstorming
• Fishbone diagram
• Critical Path Analysis
Identifying a problem
– Some tools
Communicating the decision
Transparency of information creates trust,
which is important and vital when change
is being made.
Decisions made behind closed doors are
always suspect. Therefore, after the
decision is made, you need to
communicate it.
How you communicate the decision is
everything.
Communicating the decision
When you communicate your decision, include the following:
The reason the decision was necessary: Include a brief summary of
the opportunity or issue the decision and action plan address.
Explain the “why.”
The final decision: Straightforward – tell them the decision
The implications: What the decision means to both your customers
and your stakeholders. Address how the solutions will help and
discuss the changes that these groups would probably see as losses.
What will happen next and what you need them to do to support
the decision: Feedback and feed-forward information allows for
adjusting to change.
Assessing Decisions Made
Once you have made your final decision and put it into action, it is necessary to
evaluate the decision and the steps you have taken to ensure that it works.
This final step is probably just as important as step one, if not more important,
because it will help you to further develop your decision making skills for future
problems.
This step is also fundamental because it may require you to seek out new
information and make some changes along the way.
Remember, this step requires some patience and it can also encourage
perseverance. Why? Because it may take some time to see the final outcome.
Recognising that if the first decision is not working, you may have to go back to step
two and choose another option
Summary
Applying a robust decision-making process
Types of decisions
Steps to making decisions
Factors effecting decisions
Challenges of making a good decision
Group decision making
Problem solving
Communicating the decision
Assessing decisions made
Summary & Recap
Q&A
GOOD BYE &
GOOD LUCK!
THANKS!
Any questions?
You can find me at
[email protected]