You make decisions every day, in both your personal and working life. They can be as simple as determining what time a meeting should start, or as complex as working out the best strategy to adopt for a business.
Regardless of the decision’s complexity, making a bad decision can have negative consequences. To get things done – and done well – you need to make good decisions.
The Law Management Hub shared my 10 tips to help you become a master at decision-making.
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If you want to step up and be more influential within your firm, you need to improve your decision-making skills, writes Michelle Gibbings.
You make decisions every day, in both your personal and working life. They can be as simple as determining what time a meeting should start, or as complex as working out the best strategy to adopt for a business.
Regardless of the decision’s complexity, making a bad decision can have negative consequences. To get things done – and done well – you need to make good decisions. Here are 10 tips to help you improve in this key area.
1. Know your biases
Bias pervades decision-making. This is because most people do not make decisions based on facts alone. The brain discards information that does not fit with its world view, and it takes short cuts when it makes decisions. Consequently, you can be blind to the obvious and closed to other people’s opinions. Be conscious about the decision you are making and stay alert to influencing factors and how you are processing information.
2. Challenge your mindset
Examine the mindset you are applying to your work and relationships. Letting assumptions drive your thought processes and behaviour can negatively affect your decision-making and interactions with colleagues and stakeholders. Instead, be curious and invite different opinions because out of the box thinking often comes from unexpected quarters.
3. Don’t silence the dissenters
People are easily swayed by the opinion of others. Be alert to occasions when a group or team is ignoring the person who is raising a dissenting idea. It may be this person who helps ensure the group does not fall into the trap of group-think.
4. Ignore hierarchies
Talk to people at all levels of the organisation. Hierarchies can interfere with the information you receive as it can be filtered and sanitised before it hits your desk by people who are trying to paint a situation in the most favourable light. Talking with people across, and up and down, the firm ensures you know what is truly happening and enables you to make a more informed decision.
5. Be deliberate
When making a decision, identify who needs to be involved and what decision-making process you are adopting. It is easy to get distracted, so be clear on what you need to do to get the decision made. Multi-tasking and good decision-making are not a successful combination as you lose concentration and productivity as you switch between tasks.
6. Know your options
Decision-making is, in essence, about making a choice to do one thing rather than another. It helps if you are clear on the options that exist and the likely consequences or outcomes of those options. Choosing to do one thing can often prevent you from doing something else. Understanding the trade-offs means you are making the decision with your eyes wide open.
7. Be determined
Making a decision can be hard work. Some decisions are easy as the best path forward is quickly identified. Other decisions are more complex as the solution is not easy to find. Be comfortable with the fact that sometimes you need to make a decision with incomplete data. The world is complicated and the solution to a problem may not be straightforward. In these situations, maintain your focus and determination to make the best possible decision based on what you know at the time.
8. Get some sleep
When your brain is tired, it eagerly takes the path of least resistance, and this is where it gets dangerous. Taking the path of least resistance means you will let expectations and assumptions drive how you think and act. If you want to make better, more deliberate decisions you need to be conscious about how and why you are choosing one option over another.
9. Make the decision
No decision is a decision in itself. Procrastinating will not make the decision process any easier. Be clear on when the decision needs to be made and put in place the process or framework to make it happen.
10. Reflect on it
Not all decisions you make will be good or bad. Take the time to reflect on important decisions. What happened? Did it turn out as you expected? If not, why not? What could you do differently next time?
Decision-making is an essential part of life, so it’s time to master the art.