In the workplace, decisions are made practically every minute of every day. It could be as trivial as “Where should I position this bookshelf?” or “What snack will I order for our team meeting?” to something as consequential as “How do I enhance our customer feedback system?” or “Which supplier should I go for?” Good or bad, your choices will reflect on your team and the company’s growth and success. 

Decision-making is important in the workplace because it determines how an organization functions and operates. It also dictates how quickly and efficiently employees can work toward achieving set goals. Effective utilization of time and resources is also dependent on a leader’s decision-making skills. 

This article talks about the impact decision-making has on one’s leadership journey and how it can significantly affect how an organization functions. We will discuss the consequences of poor decisions and how these can potentially affect your power and influence as a leader, as well as the merits of quality decisions and how these can help you gain a strong foothold in your leadership career.

Why Decision-Making Is Important in the Workplace

Making decisions isn’t daunting in itself, but it is the uncertainty of the outcomes and ramifications that we typically find so intimidating. Some leaders often feel overwhelmed by this enormous responsibility set on their shoulders, and some even succumb to the weight that decision-making bears on them. 

This isn’t surprising because it takes an experienced, skillful, and determined leader to develop exceptional decision-making skills. Often, one mistake can spiral into something complicated to control. That’s why fortifying your decision-making skills over time and through relevant experiences will be crucial in your leadership journey.

Myths on Decision-Making

Many leaders are intimidated by the idea of decision-making because it connotes heavy responsibilities and a high level of accountability. However, most of these worries and fears stem from unfounded notions and misconceptions. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of the most common myths on decision-making so you can confidently address your fears and enhance your leadership brand:

• Decision-making is your sole responsibility. Some leaders adopt the outdated notion that making decisions for the business rests solely on their shoulders. These days, decision-making can be a shared responsibility because involving your team in the process allows for more perspectives, highly creative ideas, and inclusivity in the choices to be made. 
• Decision-making is a linear process. Your job as a decision-maker doesn’t end when a choice has been made. Decision-making is circular — it requires follow-ups, monitoring, and continuous analysis to determine if the choice that was made remains relevant and efficient. 
• Decision-making is all about trusting your gut and skills. Relying too much on your intuition or leadership competencies can lead to poor decisions. Your choices must always be relevant, inclusive, and efficient, and among the ways to ensure this is to promote group decision-making, thorough information gathering and research, and the utilization of decision-making tools. 

Consequences of Poor Decisions

Leaders are not exempt from foul-ups, nor are they perfect, faultless beings incapable of making mistakes. They can sometimes make bad decisions, especially when they fail to examine the consequences of their actions or are poorly organized. Their personal biases, preferences, and natural tendencies may also get in the way of making logical, inequitable decisions for the team. 

When this happens, leaders expose themselves and the entire team to many risks including:

• Loss of the team’s respect and trust
• Reduced employee engagement
• Lower productivity
• Insubordination from employees
• Confusion within the team
• Failure to accomplish objectives and goals

Benefits of Good Decision-Making

The ability to make good decisions will set you apart as a reliable, proficient, and trustworthy leader, and the positive impact will be felt in many aspects of the business. Let’s take a quick look at some of the most apparent benefits of having excellent decision-making skills:

• It will save you time. Good decisions typically remain relevant and effective for longer durations. It’s rare for good decisions to eventually be deemed inapplicable. Some excellent decisions may even last the business’s entire lifespan. 
• More goals will be realized. Good decision-making skills help accelerate a team’s trajectory toward achieving shared goals, especially if transparency, integrity, and the desire to promote the company’s welfare are thrown into the picture. Moreover, more employees tend to support good decisions, hence enhancing team motivation, collaboration, and loyalty. 
• Drives growth. Good decisions generally promote the business’ expansion, improvement, and stability. A company with reliable decision-makers will quickly carve out a niche in the industry and progress further in the game. 

The Impact of Decision-Making in Business

Effective managers strive to make well-informed, rational, and equitable decisions. Before making their choices, they gather accurate information and relevant feedback and insights from their team. They develop a deep understanding of the situation, determine the consequences of each alternative, and weigh these against the risks involved.

Decision-making is one of the most crucial responsibilities of a leader. Their skills are critical to the business’s success and distinguish good leaders from bad ones. 

Here is a closer look at the impact of decision-making in the workplace:

1. Decisions Are Needed in Daily Business Operations

Decision-making skills are utilized daily, from menial daily tasks in the workplace to momentous occasions that can spell the difference between failure and victory.

There are 3 main types of decisions leaders are expected to make in the workplace:

Operational Decisions

Business operations are the backbone of the organization. These involve daily tasks required by the business to function. As a leader, your goal is to make business operations as efficient as possible by making logical choices for the team. 

Operational decisions include day-to-day activities in the workplace and tasks that may have short-term effects on the business. Most of them are also repetitive, so once a leader makes an operational decision, this can be used and reused countless times for as long as it remains relevant. 

Here are some examples:

• What day should we schedule recruitment interviews?
• Which equipment should be sent to offsite projects?
• What’s the best way to send billing statements to clients?
• How often should we check on the supplies inventory?
• Which of our services is best suited for this client’s needs?
• How much commission should sales agents get?

Tactical Decisions

Tactical decisions are made to establish standard procedures in the organization and make daily operations more efficient. They are more specific and focus more on effective implementation. Tactical decisions also include the changes made in operational decisions to constructively respond to changes in the business environment.

Here are some examples:

• Developing a sales strategy for the entire sales force
• Deciding on what specific tasks and responsibilities are assigned to each position in the company
• Introducing promos and discounts to respond to a competitor’s sudden price change
• Launching a rewards program as a response to shifting market conditions

Strategic Decisions

Strategic decisions directly impact your business’ growth and dictate the direction your organization will take. These decisions align with your company’s mission and vision, and help it gain a strong foothold in the industry.

These types of decisions involve those that have a lasting impact on the business. However, note that, although these choices are made to cater to long-term goals, they are not set in stone. Strategic plans are most effective when they are flexible and capable of efficiently responding to potential changes in circumstances. 

Here are some examples:

• Setting annual targets and budget
• Hiring of candidates for top management posts
• Business expansion plans
• Where do we want the company to be 5 years from now?
• How do we get there?

2. Decisions Can Boost Employee Morale 

Managing a group of individuals with different personalities and diverse skills and experiences can be extremely taxing. As a leader, you must treat your team members as allies in the business, not just mere followers expected to obey your commands and meet all your expectations. 

A huge part of effective leadership involves listening to your team, encouraging them to share their insights and suggestions, and finding creative ways to meet their unique needs. You’ll be surprised to observe that your team will respond positively by exhibiting higher engagement, better teamwork, and improved productivity. They will also develop strong trust in you as their leader, as well as a higher level of loyalty to the organization. 

Being transparent to your employees about your decision-making process will also help keep your team’s morale up, especially when the decisions you are about to make entails risks. By letting your team in on the nitty-gritty, you’re letting them know you’re all on the same side, and they should be confident about doing their part in helping to reach common goals because you will provide them with the support and guidance they need. 

3. Decisions Can Help Foster Respect and Trust 

Your organization needs a strong, confident leader dependable in effectively leading the team toward shared goals. Your team needs someone they respect and trust to steer them in the right direction, and your decision-making skills will play a big role in how firmly you can establish yourself as a leader worthy of your team members’ approbation. 

Apart from leading the team toward success, your employees also need someone who’s an excellent role model — someone they can emulate as they grow personally and professionally in their careers. If they see how efficiently you handle difficult situations and strive to be level-headed in the face of critical situations, they’re bound to follow suit.

This helps establish a culture of efficiency in the workplace where a healthy level of trust and respect in the leader results in improved employee engagement, productivity, and loyalty. 

4. Decision-Making Skills Are Crucial To Risk Assessment

Business decisions are vital in determining the opportunities the organization will seize to grow and thrive in the industry. It is through tactical decision-making that risks are recognized and analyzed. Leaders then formulate strategies that can help minimize the risks to the business, maximize the possibilities, and boost chances for achieving the desired results. 

Risk assessment is a tricky job. Leaders have to take into account both internal and external factors that may significantly affect how the business will respond to the alternatives available. They must determine how likely (or unlikely) risks will turn out to be significant, to what extent the effects will be felt by the team, what steps may be implemented to help prevent them, and what actions must be taken when the organization finds itself in the face of a crisis.

Here are some questions you might want to ask yourself when analyzing business risks:

• What could go wrong with each of these alternatives?
• In which aspects will our company be most vulnerable?
• How can we determine if we’re on the right track toward achieving our set goals?
• Do the costs justify the risks involved and the probability of success?
• Do the risks outweigh the benefits?

5. Decision-Making Helps Prevent Conflicts

Leaders have to be assertive in ensuring that their influence and authority in the workplace is firmly established. When a leader isn’t self-assured enough, conflicts will arise within the team primarily because there is no clear person of authority and influence. 

Firm decision-making is one of the factors that can establish your power as a leader. You must provide clear directions to your team, as well as explicit instructions on the whos, whats, when, and hows of various aspects pertaining to the business. Conflict resolution must also be among your top priorities to help ensure a seamless, synergistic flow among your team members, and to prevent dissent from brewing within your team.

6. Decision-Making Helps Ensure Growth

Business decisions fuel changes in the organization. The decisions you make as a leader can help determine how resources are utilized and how team members spend their valuable time in the workplace. 

Ineffective decision-making can lead to avoidable expenses, wastage of resources, inefficient use of time, and a lot of miscommunications and errors among team members. In essence, a good leader should be able to make decisions that can help the company save money and time, as well as maximize the resources available to ensure continuous growth. 

7. Decisions Help Achieve Goals

Your organization’s success in achieving set goals depends on how good your decisions will be as a leader. Anyone can make decisions, but it takes a good leader to skillfully lead the organization in the right direction. 

The company’s objectives and goals will remain abstract until someone successfully rallies the team to work together toward achieving them. This is where a good leader enters the scene — they’re responsible for formulating strategies, making sound decisions, implementing smart plans of action, and ensuring that each team member is always on the right track. 

How To Fortify Your Decision-Making Process

Here are some tips on how to strengthen your decision-making process:

• Determine the impact of your decision. Think about the possible outcomes of your decisions, and who will be greatly affected. Remember, bad decisions may sometimes be easily remedied, but if it affects a large number of people, salvaging the situation may become extremely overwhelming. 
• Weigh the pros and cons of your options. Before making your final choice, analyze the advantages and disadvantages of your available alternatives by making lists, brainstorming with your team, or studying forecasts closely. Generally, you’ll find that most alternatives entail risks, but it’s essential that these risks far outweigh the benefits they offer. 
• Take accountability for the outcomes of your decisions. You must take responsibility for the outcomes and repercussions of your decisions. This will compel you to be more mindful of the alternatives available and conscientious of the choices you make. 
• Learn from your mistakes. Humans are bound to make mistakes, and being a leader certainly doesn’t exempt you from this. Although making wrong decisions is inevitable, what’s important is that you acknowledge your faults, learn from them, and take concrete steps toward correcting them. 
• Avoid basing your decisions on emotions. Doing so results in irrational choices that you may very well regret later on. Avoid impulsiveness by stepping back, looking at the bigger picture, and waiting until you are calmer, more clear-headed, and more objective about the task at hand. 
• Share the responsibility. Rather than going solo when making decisions on all aspects of the business, why don’t you involve your team members in the decision-making process? As the saying goes, “Two heads are better than one,” and other people’s insights will make a huge difference in producing better quality, well-informed decisions for the organization. 

Final Thoughts

Effective decision-making is vital in the workplace because it can make or break an organization. Whether decisions are mundane choices or consequential moves, good leaders are pivotal in ensuring that the team stays on track and is always aligned with the company’s goals.
Sancus Leadership places a premium on leaders’ decision-making skills. Anyone can make decisions in the workplace, but we believe that only a competent leader can make those that can make a truly significant positive impact on the business. Book us a call today so we can get you on your way to further sharpening your decision-making skills!

The ability to make the best decisions for the business sets great leaders apart from the rest. It may come naturally to some, but generally, this skill is something that must be sharpened, trained, and continuously exercised. A leader who lacks excellent decision-making skills can quickly pull a business down.

To make faster and more accurate decisions, sign up for coaching and decision training programs that will sharpen your critical thinking and problem-solving skills. You can also use decision-making tools. Immersing yourself in outdoor activities that put your skills to the test is also beneficial. 

Let’s talk about the different techniques and tools you can employ to make faster and more accurate decisions, including group decision-making, coaching, and experiential training. We will also discuss the impact of investing in your own leadership skills so you can be more efficient in leading your organization through various challenges. Let’s also tap into some of the most common mistakes leaders make in decision-making and how to avoid them. 

The Biggest Decision-Making Mistakes

Many people find decision-making responsibilities daunting, so it’s not surprising to see some who balk at accepting leadership roles. After all, when you’re a leader, your choices can mean failure or success for your business. 

There are many mistakes leaders make when making decisions for their business. Being familiar with these is crucial so you know what to avoid to keep yourself from falling into the same traps.

Here are some of the biggest mistakes leaders make in decision-making:

1. Wishful Thinking

A positive mindset is commendable but isn’t always advantageous when it becomes your default perspective. Remember, never confuse optimism and wishful thinking with reality. 

It’s similar to driving your car to work each morning. If you’re a morning person like me, you probably relish those early morning drives with the mild morning sun warming your face as you breathe fresh air. 

However, you remain vigilant while driving despite feeling optimistic and excited about the day ahead. You take a defensive stance since you know accidents can occur in the blink of an eye — all it takes is one minor distraction, and your day could be ruined. 

Sometimes, we amplify the favorable standpoints we see regarding specific issues in the workplace and practically disregard the negative points (the proverbial rose-colored glasses). You may also fall prey to self-deception if you refuse to consider the possible adverse consequences of a particular course of action you support.  

This puts your business in danger because you fail to see the whole picture — one that includes both the good and the bad.

The best way to fight this tendency is to remain cognitive of your biases and quickly distinguish them from facts. Be as objective as you can be, rather than being subjective, when tackling critical decisions. Moreover, gather as many perspectives and alternative solutions as possible before making your final choice

2. Going Solo

Individual decision-making has its advantages. For one, choices are often made swiftly since there is only 1 perspective to be considered, and no consensus needs to be reached. Furthermore, accountability will be front and center since the organization will know who is responsible for the ideas and actions linked to the decisions made. 

However, individual decision-making isn’t always beneficial in every situation. Sometimes, making decisions as a group is the best route to take, especially since more information, insights, and perspectives will be collected from various individuals. This gives the decision-making process a more holistic, inclusive approach where your chances of arriving at comprehensive, sound, and relevant choices will be boosted.  

3. No Follow Through

Some leaders mistakenly think their job is done once they make their final choice. They may even feel proud and self-satisfied about this particular achievement, especially if meticulous research and attention to detail were ensured throughout the process. So, they proudly dust off their hands and move on to the next task.

However, your role as a decision-maker doesn’t end when you make your final choice. You must ensure proper and accurate implementation of your decision. You must also regularly monitor progress to ensure everyone is on the right track and the current action plan is still relevant and practical. This way, you’ll quickly nip potential problems in the bud and make the necessary adjustments to ensure efficient execution.

Benefits of Being a Good Decision-Maker

Decision-making is a skill we all use in daily life. Whether you decide to push through with the launch of a new product next week or wait until you see a more profound need in the market, you always strive to ensure that your choices will be most advantageous to the business. 

Leaders seek to enhance their skills in making faster and more accurate decisions because this plays a vital role in pushing the organization forward and ensuring goals are met. 

Let’s take a closer look at some ways excellent decision-making can benefit your business:

1. It Will Save You Time and Money

Without effective leadership, a team will have no concrete sense of direction. They will go about their own ways in trying to achieve set goals with little synergy and cohesion. This can result in the following:

• Mismanaged funds
• Improper use of resources
• Delayed output
• Costly errors
• Unproductiveness

Making faster and more accurate decisions will help your business save more time and money. Daily operations will be more efficient, employees can manage their time better, and goals will be realized through timely and systematic strategies. 

2. It Will Train You To Become a Better Problem-Solver

As the saying goes, “Practice makes perfect,” and in decision-making, you have to get in the game if you really want to enhance your skills. You’ll become more adept in solving various kinds of workplace issues the more experience you acquire in decision-making. 

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes — they’re part of the journey. Use them as learning tools through which you can glean invaluable expertise. Making mistakes can teach you to think outside the box, be more flexible, and unleash more of your creativity. 

3. You Will Become a Better Leader

Leading a team toward success isn’t easy, but armed with the right skills, the experience will be highly worthwhile and rewarding. A leader’s decision-making skills don’t just come into play during critical moments when transformative choices must be made. They are necessary for the workplace’s daily routines as well. 

A leader who can make fast and accurate decisions can:

• Promote teamwork and collaboration
• Improve employee productivity
• Enhance employees’ job satisfaction 
• Promote organizational loyalty
• Inspire employees to always aim for excellence

If you’re eager to take your decision-making skills up a notch and would like to find out more about how doing so will positively impact your business, check out this article to uncover all the perks you and your team can enjoy. We’ll discuss the benefits in detail so you may truly grasp the value of excellent decision-making in leadership. 

How Do I Make Better Decisions?

Making faster and more accurate decisions is perhaps every leader’s goal. It’s an enviable skill that will set you apart and significantly elevate your leadership brand.

Here are some ways you can enhance your decision-making skills:

1. Experiential Training

As a leader, you’ve probably gone through various trainings, seminars, and lectures about the value of decision-making in leadership. Concepts can be pretty easy to understand, but sometimes, the message can be more effectively absorbed if you get your hands dirty and gain firsthand experience with the theories being promoted. 

Experiential training is a great way to do so because it exposes individuals to the unpredictability, inhospitality, and unrelenting nature of the wild. Nature can help sharpen your leadership competencies, particularly your decision-making, strategic planning, and critical thinking skills, by compelling you to think on your feet and become innovative in coming up with the best solutions for various dilemmas.

Here are some exciting activities you can engage in:

• Whitewater rafting
• Mountain Climbing
• Camping
• Hiking
• Skiing

Let’s take a closer look at how your experiences in the wild can benefit you and your team in the more controlled environment of your workplace:

• Provides hands-on training. You’ll go beyond just learning theories — you’re given opportunities to apply your learnings in actual scenarios. 
• Promotes teamwork. The saying, “No man is an island” is highly apparent in the workplace where collaboration and cooperation can make a significant difference in how much more efficiently and swiftly goals are achieved. In the outdoors, teamwork is essential in ensuring everyone’s safety and success in reaching the goal. 
• Sharpens other leadership skills. Listening, delegating, coaching, and collaborating are essential in managing a successful team. These skills can be effectively honed outdoors, and you can seamlessly transition from the wild to the boardroom. 

Dive right into this article if you’re keen on training yourself to make better decisions through various strategies, including outdoor leadership. You’ll find out how activities like biking, camping, and mountain climbing can help sharpen some of your most critical leadership competencies, especially with making the most logical, relevant, and beneficial choices for your business. 

2. Coaching

As a child, while growing up, was there someone you looked up to and constantly imitated in the hope that you’d be exactly like them? I remember being captivated by the idea of being a soldier. I would watch endless movies and read countless books about soldiers, and I would be in awe of how brave, gallant, and selfless they always seemed to be. 

This is perhaps one of the main reasons I served for 12 years in the military. I was also fortunate to have leaders I could admire and emulate. In the military, I sharpened skills I never knew I would need beyond my life in the army — critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, conflict resolution, integrity, and decision-making, among others. 

In decision-making, having a coach can make a huge difference in how well and quickly  you develop the ability to make the right choices and effectively implement them. Poor decisions in the workplace often stem from:

• Inexperience
• Rushed decisions
• Insufficient know-how
• Overwhelming pressure
• Stress
• Poor judgment

By having a coach, you’ll have access to proven effective strategies and techniques that have helped countless business leaders in managing and leading their teams toward growth and success. A business coach or mentor can give you tips on how to:

• Refine your intuitions and impulses
• Identify your strengths and weaknesses
• Develop a keen eye for opportunities
• Improve your discernment
• Conceptualize your strategy for making rational decisions
• Maximize decision-making tools

3. Invest in Decision-Making Tools

Decision-making tools help leaders make faster and more accurate choices through more structured and streamlined processes. These can help them find the best solutions for their business’ problems and needs. 

Decision tools can be counted on to:

• Help eliminate personal biases
• Provide a more objective approach to choosing the best solutions
• Identify opportunities 
• Call your attention to the risks involved so you can formulate strategies to mitigate them
• Give a bird’s eye view of the current situation and potential alternatives and corresponding outcomes
• Provide visual representations of concepts and proposed plans of action

These are some of the most reliable tools that can help simplify and accelerate your business’ decision-making processes:

• Decision tree. Provides visual representations of alternative plans of action and their predicted outcomes. 
• Decision matrix. A chart that offers comparative information on proposed alternative solutions. 
• Force field analysis. Helps you weigh the strengths and weaknesses of proposed plans of action.
• Gantt chart. A project management tool that provides a graphic illustration of the project and tasks at hand so you can better monitor progress and make necessary adjustments quickly.
• Break-even analysis. A great tool to use for determining your margin of safety (where costs equal revenue) to help you wisely handle pricing and costs. 

4. Develop Decision-Making Techniques

Decision-making techniques can help enhance your business’ decision-making processes, especially when implemented appropriately. As a leader, your ability to formulate innovative strategies to cater to your organization’s unique needs is vital in ensuring growth and success. 

Good decision-making techniques help provide structure, so you’re essentially compelled to make rational, beneficial choices for the organization. They keep you from committing some of the most common decision-making mistakes — such as jumping on the bandwagon, allowing personal biases to take over, and trusting your gut too much — since these give rise to flawed, self-serving, and unfounded decisions that could put the company’s stability at risk.

Some of the most efficient decision-making techniques include:

• Multivoting. A group decision-making technique that helps address blindspots, boosts employee collaboration and morale, and promotes inclusivity. 
• Six Thinking Hats. A technique that allows you to see multiple perspectives in a given situation. Participants are urged to view the issue from various angles (or “wear different hats”) so the team can discuss various essential points involving proposed courses of action, including strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks involved, and possible outcomes. 
• Building consensus. This technique requires the team to agree on a given topic. They aim to arrive at a sufficiently acceptable decision for everyone, with nobody on the team completely opposed to it. This promotes group collaboration, accountability, buy-in, and commitment to the team’s decision. 
• Visualization. This technique promotes a deeper and more accurate understanding of the concepts and ideas being shared. The most reliable visualization strategies include charts, graphs, dashboards, and tables. 
• Situational approach. There isn’t a definite formula for making the best decisions for your business. You must learn to adapt to different situations so you can tailor-fit your approach depending on the unique circumstances you may find yourself in. 

5. Group Decision-Making

Some leaders hesitate to promote group decision-making because they fear losing power, control, and authority over the team. However, making decisions on your own puts you at risk of fostering self-serving motives, non-inclusive ideas, and skewed standpoints. 

Group decision-making allows the business to benefit from unique, creative ideas, diverse perspectives, and comprehensive proposals. It also motivates employees, fosters trust, and encourages everyone in the team to become critical thinkers and strategic problem solvers. It promotes sensible, inclusive, and logical decisions. 

An organized, trackable method, with set rules and guidelines, will provide structure when making decisions as a group. Here are some ways you can go about it:

• Heuristic approach. This applies to repetitive tasks. It will save the group a lot of time because a standard, rule-of-thumb approach will be implemented each time a specific issue arises. This will be great for recruitment, inventory monitoring, and purchasing matters. 
• Decision-making tools. These handy allies can simplify and accelerate the process for your team while ensuring objectivity and inclusivity. Decision intelligence tools ideal for small groups include decision trees, decision matrices, and influence diagrams. 

6. Invest in Yourself

Decision-making isn’t an inborn leadership skill — it is something that can be learned and improved over time. Always keep in mind that when push comes to shove, your personal decision-making skills are your best bet in leading your business straight to the top. 

You can train yourself to make better decisions through various means, including:

• Mentoring. Working with a mentor or someone you look up to in the industry is a great way to learn the ropes firsthand. A good coach or mentor will help polish your strategies, enhance your approach, and introduce you to new techniques to help you make faster and more accurate decisions for your business.  
• Decision-making training. Leadership courses in decision-making will help sharpen your critical thinking, problem-solving, and risk assessment skills. This is a great way to better equip leaders to face the company’s future challenges.
• Outdoor training. The wild outdoors provides an excellent training ground for leaders, especially regarding decision-making. Nature’s unpredictability and inhospitality will compel you to become more strategic, calculating, and systematic when making choices that could spell the difference between survival and failure. Activities like biking, hiking, and camping will help hone your leadership skills. 

Sancus Leadership promotes the value of excellent decision-making in leadership. We can guide you in enhancing your business’ decision-making process through tried-and-tested, tailor-fitted techniques that will make a difference in how you lead your team toward success. 

Our experiential training courses, in particular, will compel you to get accustomed to thinking on your feet and making the best choices in various scenarios. Book us a free leadership call when you’re ready to experience the difference outdoor training can make in managing your business. We’re always eager to help leaders achieve their full potential!

Final Thoughts

Fast and accurate decisions can propel a business toward opportunities promoting growth and stability. This is especially advantageous for small businesses striving to carve out a niche in a demanding, fast-paced, and dynamic industry. Your decision-making skills as a leader will significantly affect how quickly and efficiently your organization can achieve its goals. 

My background in the military has proven to be useful in my current role as an entrepreneur. Decision-making is crucial to the success of any business, and I rely on the experiences I gained during my 12 years of service. I have discovered that the field of project management is highly receptive to the implementation of well-planned decision-making tactics.

The best decision-making tools, such as decision trees and Gantt charts, promote team cohesion and monitor progress in project management. A heuristic approach saves valuable time during planning and execution.

Let’s discuss why your decision-making skills as a leader are crucial in project management and how you can further enhance them with the help of the most reliable and suitable decision-making tools. We’ll discuss the features and benefits of decision trees, Gantt charts, and the heuristic approach in decision-making. We will also briefly discuss some common misconceptions in project management.

Are Decision-Making Skills Crucial in Project Management?

Making good decisions in project management is essential to ensuring that all team members remain engaged and productive and that shared goals are achieved on time. Project managers are generally entrusted with these responsibilities:

• Focus on tasks that contribute to achieving the project goals
• Ensure the proper and timely implementation of all tasks
• Make relevant decisions to ensure efficiency, engagement, and productivity
• Anticipate potential loopholes and effectively prevent or address them
• Manage risks and formulate sound strategies and solutions to mitigate adverse effects
• Establish a structured, realistic, and effective project implementation process

Misconception on Decision-Making Tools in Project Management

Many project managers today harbor outdated and flawed views on project management, and with the rising popularity of decision-making tools, the mix-ups keep building up. It’s crucial to get to the bottom of these and rectify them because the wrong mindset and strategies can lead you to failure. 

Here are some of the most common mix-ups in project management and decision-making tools:

1. Project Management Is All About the Process 

Some leaders think they simply have to worry about seeing a project through from start to finish. This mindset often creates problems within the team because project management is more than just that. It also has much to do with people management — ensuring team engagement and customer satisfaction, for instance — and a leader’s effectiveness in utilizing soft skills. 

Decision-making tools sometimes fortify this erroneous perspective, thanks to the objectivity and straightforwardness they extend, especially during the most crucial moments. As a leader, you might feel compelled to focus solely on realizing goals while losing sight of other equally important aspects, such as your team’s welfare or preferences. This can lead to a disengaged, unmotivated team with reduced trust and respect for their leader. 

2. The Sooner a Project Is Finished, the Better 

Quality should come before promptness. Never sacrifice the quality of your finished work over meeting deadlines. This can lead to customer dissatisfaction, problems with interrelated tasks in the organization, and a loss of trust in your leadership skills.

A good decision-making tool never foregoes quality over speed. Instead, it should focus on providing clarity, a deeper understanding, and impartiality to the various aspects involved. If you feel like your decision-making tool is rushing the process and simply ticking all the boxes, then maybe it’s time to consider more suitable options for your team.

3. You Should Always Stick to the Plan

Project management has a lot to do with lists of tasks, frameworks, well-defined plans of action, and deadlines. However, no matter how sensible and structured a project may be, your critical thinking and problem-solving skills are still crucial every step of the way. As a leader, you must know when to stick to the plan and when it’s much wiser to deviate and employ more innovative strategies.

Decisions shouldn’t always have to be definitive and absolute, and your decision-making tool must promote this viewpoint. It should provide some wiggle room for adjustments and changes along the way. It should always support attaining the set goals rather than merely persisting on a particular course of action. 

4. Technology Is Vital for Success

These days, technology, particularly artificial intelligence, plays considerable roles in effectively managing businesses, leading teams toward their goals, and even in making intelligent choices for the organization. These decision-making tools certainly add a dose of efficiency to how important tasks are accomplished, but at the end of the day, your leadership and decision-making skills will save the day. 

Sancus Leadership believes in investing in your skills and experiences to expand your horizons and fortify your leadership role in your team. We also promote utilizing various tools to help simplify and accelerate even the most crucial tasks.

When you‘re all set to discover new ways to build your competencies and improve the quality of your leadership, book a free leadership call with us so we can start working together toward reaching your full potential. 

Perks of Using Decision-Making Tools in Project Management

There are many reasons why decision-making tools are crucial allies in project management. Many leaders turn to them for help in making tasks more efficient and seamless, with synergy and promptness as their driving forces in achieving success. 

Here are some of the benefits you can expect to enjoy with decision-making tools up your sleeve:

• Reduced risk of delays
• Reduced probability of unfinished tasks and projects
• Efficient and reliable progress tracking
• Realistic forecasts on potential outcomes
• Diverse perspectives
• Enhanced comprehension of scenarios from big-picture perspectives
• Increased employee engagement
• Improved team collaboration
• Enhanced team transparency 

The Best Decision-Making Tools for Project Management

Here are some of the most reliable decision-making tools in project management:

1. Decision Tree

A decision tree can help you visualize different courses of action and the possible costs, risks, consequences, and outcomes. It comes in handy in project management because it can aid you in assessing how suitable a proposed plan of action is and identifying the best possible solutions to the various issues you encounter in the workplace. 

This visual tool works excellent for complicated decision-making scenarios since the various branches you create will help you break down the nitty-gritty of each potential solution. All you have to do is define the problem you need a solution for (this serves as your decision tree’s roots), then identify all possible solutions and outcomes (represented by the tree’s branches). Include all details related to each solution. 

Pretty soon, you’ll get a comprehensive view of the situation, including how it could pan out given the different alternative solutions you’ve come up with.

2. Gantt Chart

A Gantt chart is a reliable project management tool that can assist you from the planning stages all the way to the proper scheduling and implementation of tasks. It is a graphical illustration of your project to help you better monitor your progress. Through a Gantt chart, you can easily keep track of the entire team’s progress at a glance. 

This decision-making tool utilizes horizontal bars (Gantt bars) to depict timelines clearly. These Gantt bars may feature any or all of these:

• Beginning dates
• Target end dates
• Task schedules
• Percentage of task completion
• Team member responsible for a specific task

3. Heuristic Technique

This technique banks on past experiences and learnings, especially if you need to make quick decisions due to limited time, fast-approaching deadlines, or in an emergency. 

However, the heuristic approach is not all about gut feeling, intuition, and guesswork. Instead, you recall similar experiences and what strategies you employed that worked in that specific scenario. You can also make educated guesses and bank on a trial-and-error approach. 

Remember to leave room for adjustments and changes later on, especially as soon as you see that a specific plan of action seems to be flawed. This “rule of thumb” approach to project management decision-making can be utilized in any of these situations:

• Schedule setting
• Resource allocation
• Budget setting
• Project forecasts and projections (including risks, consequences, and outcomes)