In business and in life every decision carries with it consequences. Decisions have the power to create great rewards for your life and work; decisions can also cause negative consequences that denigrate the quality of your work. While the level of consequences will vary – some will be more neutral whereas others will have a major effect on you. Every decision you make will affect the quality and direction of your life and work.
This article is Part 1 of a two Part article, which is designed to teach you strategic process’s to make decisions so that you will create choices for your life that will empower you. Today you will be introduced to many aspects of decision-making. How to make decisions that are effective and how decisions when made poorly will lead to stagnation and avoidance of delegated responsibility.
Indecision and poor decision making is proving to be the major time waster in work. These can have an enormous impact on the company in terms of money and lost time. The key to having more time is doing less, to achieve this you use these two together points together.
1 – Define a short-to-do list
2 – Define a not-to-do list.
To effectively sort through this you need to be aware of the Four Types of Decisions. These are the four types of decisions you will deal with on a regular basis in the course of your career. Imagine now, if you were known as the person who has effective Time Management skills. The person who is known for their decisiveness and the ability to make decisions that have good consequences for themselves, the people you work with and the company that employees you. Theses now are the four types of decisions you will experience.
1. DECISIONS ONLY YOU CAN MAKE
This is the decision that no one else can make, and it is the decision that’s your responsibility to make. It is therefore unavoidable.
2. DECISIONS YOU CAN DELEGATE
There are some decisions that other people can make. One of the best ways to develop other people – to build knowledge, foresight, wisdom, and judgement in your team is to allow them to make important decisions. Whenever you can delegate a decision to someone else, or whenever the potential consequences of poor decisions are small, then by all means let someone else make that decision.
3. UNAFFORDABLE DECISIONS
This decision is the one you cannot afford to make. The negative consequences of this decision are too great if it turns out poorly. Some decisions if they turn out wrong, can lead to major disasters for the company. The worst possible outcome is too serious an outcome to accept. This is the decision that you cannot afford to make.
4. UNAVOIDABLE DECISIONS
This is the decision you cannot afford not to make. This is a decision to act on an opportunity where delay can be expensive. The upside of this is the consequences can be enormous for the company. Now remember, when it is not necessary to decide, it is necessary not to decide.
The ability to make better decisions enables you to be effective and proficient.
There are 3 keys to become a better decision maker and they are outlined below for you to follow and implement.
1. SET A DEADLINE FOR DECISION MAKING
If you can’t make a decision immediately, set a deadline for the decision. Example; if someone comes to you needing an answer, and you can’t give an answer right away because you don’t have enough information, say, “I can’t give you an answer right now: but I will give you an answer by Thursday at noon.” Then no matter what, when Thursday comes around, you make that decision one-way or the other.
2. GET THE FACTS BEFORE DECIDING
Get the facts, all the facts, the real facts. When you have collected enough accurate facts and information in any area, decision making becomes far easier and more effective. The act of gathering information will greatly improve your decision when you finally make it.
3. COURAGE TO MOVE FORWARD
Decision making requires courage, because every decision involves a certain amount of uncertainty. Every decision carries with it the possibility of failure. However, it is not possible for a person to advance in life unless he is willing to make decisions with no guarantee of success. All successful people are firm decision makers.
We have looked at four types of decisions and how we should be handling each of them. The three keys for better decision making will ensure that when you are faced with decisions you will know which way to respond.
Now in Part 2 we will be looking at avoidance. Why people avoid making decisions and four reasons why they choose this.
Now to know more about Time Management, visit: http://timemanagementmastery.com.au
Peter Blasch
