Reference no: EM133005919

Soft Skills for Success Decision Making

Decision making involves selecting a solution from among alternatives. Making good decisions is critical to effective management and leadership. As Charles Bass pointed out in the chapter opening interview, effective managers must make hard decisions and turn down requests when it is appropriate to do so. Managers should use a proven process to make deci- sions, and they should communicate the results appropriately.

Many decision-making models are available. Generally, they consist of the following steps:

1. Understand the problem and related issues clearly. Identify what is involved and what is not involved. Understand the issues. Clarifying the problem will help you determine whether you should make the decision yourself or seek others' input.

2. What are the alternatives? To make the best choice, consider all the alternatives. Often you may need to obtain additional in- formation. This process may require more time than requesters expect. A good tip for supervisors who are pressed by employees to make a decision before adequate information is available is

to respond: If I have to make the decision now, the answer is no. However, if I have time to research the alternatives, we may be able to work out a suitable alternative. Rarely will anyone select the "no" answer rather than waiting for the decision.

3. Evaluate the alternatives carefully. 4. Select the alternative that is best for all concerned. Then implement the decision.

5. After a period of time, reevaluate your decision. This will help you determine how effective it was, whether changes need to be made, and how you might improve your decision making in the future.

Once you have made a decision, you should communicate both the process you used and the final result. This is especially important if the decision was negative. Most people do not question positive decisions. However, they do tend to question negative decisions.