Strong business decision-making skills are an important characteristic of modern managers and entrepreneurs. Seeking to improve your decision-making skills can help you to make the right choices at the right time to ensure that your organization remains competitive and strategically viable. Each problem or opportunity you face may be completely unique, and call for a uniquely crafted solution, but there are general guidelines that can be applied to nearly all decisions.
Seek the advice and input of others. Gaining input from others can be an excellent way to identify ideas or solutions that you may not have considered on your own.
Take extra time to define your problem or opportunity. Decisions will almost certainly be ineffective if they are made based on misinformed assumptions. The problem that is most evident in your organization may actually be a side effect of a deeper issue. Examine all possible causes of a problem and determine which one may be the root cause.
Identify a wide range of creative solution alternatives. Do not immediately consider traditional solutions to be the best way to confront your problem or opportunity. Include even the most creative solution ideas in your brainstorming. Even if certain alternatives may seem inappropriate, they may help to lead you to another, more successful solution.
Know which decisions to delegate. According to liraz.com, 80 percent of the decisions that you face as a manager could be successfully handled by your subordinates. Focus on the issues that are truly important to the strategic competitiveness of your organization.
Consider using a business decision-making software package. For complex decisions involving large quantities of data or complex calculations, software packages are available to help you to organize data and display reports, graphs, and other analytical tools in a user-friendly manner. Follow the link at the end of this article to find a comprehensive list of factors to be considered when choosing a decision-making software package, as well as a comparison of five popular packages.
Create a thorough implementation plan before putting your solution into action. Devote as much time to implementation planning as you did to the decision-making process. It is possible for a perfect solution to be ineffective due to poor logistical implementation. According to managementhelp.org, defining resource requirements, performance evaluation metrics, and staff responsibilities will help you to create a solid implementation plan.
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