Decision-Making: Powerful Techniques

As a leader one of your top priorities is to find ways your team can assist in helping the company achieve its objectives.

Just a quick recap. We’ve tackled the four key steps to decision making and the types of decision to make as a leader in our previous articles.

For our final article on our Decision Making series, we will provide you with some powerful decision making techniques.

In order to make informed decisions, leaders need to have a variety of techniques at their disposal.

This article will discuss five such techniques. Each one is powerful in its own way, and can help leaders steer their organisations in the right direction.

By understanding and utilising these techniques, leaders can make confident decisions that will benefit the company and employees alike.

1.) Consider a process-based approach

Good decision making is a key part of effective management. All too often, however, people think of decisions as events, rather than part of a process. As a result, they fail to establish an effective decision-making process. This can lead to sub-optimal decisions, and ultimately, poorer performance.

The first step in developing an effective decision-making process is to ensure that the right questions are being asked. Too often, decision makers focus on the wrong things, or fail to consider all of the relevant factors. As a result, they craft solutions that don’t address the real problem, or that are unnecessarily complex. By asking the right questions, you can ensure that your team is focusing on the right issues.

Once you’ve established that the right questions are being asked, you need to train your team to analyse the problem and craft viable solutions. This requires them to think creatively and critically about the options available to them. With proper training, your team will be able to develop creative solutions that address the real problem at hand.

By establishing an effective decision-making process, you can ensure that your team is making optimal decisions. This will lead to better performance and improved results.

2.) Let your team be part of the process

When it comes to making important decisions, it's always best to involve your team members.

Numerous studies have shown that team decision-making can help improve the quality of decisions.

This is because collective knowledge and experience from all members can help to uncover and overcome implicit biases of the group. They can also offer helpful insights that you might not have considered before. In addition, team decision-making can help to promote a sense of ownership and buy-in from all members.

By getting different points of view, you can stimulate creative problem-solving and come up with a decision that everyone can be happy with.

Involving your team in the decision-making process can help prevent problems down the road and ensure that everyone is on the same page.

As a result, team decisions are more likely to be implemented successfully. Although there may be some initial resistance to team decision-making, the benefits far outweigh the costs.

By pooling the collective knowledge and experience of all members, organisations can make better decisions that are more likely to be implemented successfully.

So next time you're facing a tough decision, make sure to involve your team and get everyone's input. It could make all the difference.

3.) Nurture a collaborative perspective

There are two kinds of perspectives that you need to put into consideration to ingrain collaboration in your team.

Advocacy: This perspective is a common approach to decision-making in which individuals seek to persuade others of their ideas, defend their position, and downplay any weaknesses. This view of decision-making as a contest can lead to conflict and divisiveness, as people compete for scarce resources or try to advance their own interests at the expense of others. In some cases, the advocacy mindset can be helpful, as it can encourage people to think creatively and challenge existing assumptions. However, it can also lead to gridlock and poor decision-making, as people become more focused on winning the argument than on finding a compromise that meets everyone's needs. For this reason, it is important to be aware of the potential drawbacks of the advocacy mindset before adopting it as your own.

Inquiry: This perspective helps individuals navigate decision-making in a collaborative way with a problem-solving orientation. This type of thinker tests and evaluates assumptions by presenting balanced arguments, considering alternatives, and being open to constructive criticism. Individuals are working with others towards a common goal, such as in a business setting, they can help to create an environment where all voices are heard and diverse perspectives are welcomed. In addition, inquiry mindset thinkers are not afraid to challenge the status quo and ask tough questions. This can lead to better solutions and more innovative thinking. Ultimately, inquiry mindset helps individuals to make better decisions by encouraging them to think critically and consider all options.

Obviously, the latter is the best option.

When it comes to making decisions, it's important to encourage a culture of inquiry on your team. Inquiry-driven decision making empowers team members to think critically and share their points of view. Team members feel encouraged to speak up and have their voices heard. This is in contrast to an advocacy-driven decision making, where team members may feel discouraged or dismissed.

Inquiry-driven decision making leads to better decision making overall. When everyone on the team feels empowered to contribute, you're likely to end up with a better solution than if only a few people are advocating for a particular course of action. And when team members feel like their voices are being heard, they're more likely to be engaged and committed to the decision that's made.

So if you want your team to make the best decisions possible, foster an inquiry-driven perspective.

4.) Build and sustain psychological safety

Why is psychological safety so important? It’s simple: when team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas, they are more likely to share new information and perspectives.

It describes an environment where team members feel free to take risks and express themselves without fear of judgment or reprisal.

In order to foster a culture of innovation, it is essential to create an environment where psychological safety is valued.

This is how you get the best out of your team. And it all starts with creating an environment of psychological safety.

So what can you do to create such an environment? There are a few key things that leaders can do to promote psychological safety within their team.

First, it’s important to set the tone from the top. Make it clear that you value diversity of thought and that everyone’s perspective is welcome. Leaders should give fair consideration to all ideas, regardless of who they come from.

Second, create opportunities for collaboration and open communication. Encourage team members to work together on projects and give them the space to share their ideas openly. But keep in mind that It is important to be respectful and open-minded when listening to team members' ideas.

Finally, foster a culture of respect and trust. Let team members know that they can rely on you and each other, and that you will always treat them with respect. It is helpful to create an atmosphere of trust, where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and opinions.

By creating a psychologically safe environment, leaders can encourage their team members to take risks and share their creativity, leading to increased innovation. Thus ensure that your team members feel comfortable sharing their ideas and unique perspectives.

5.) Reiterate and emphasise the goals and purpose of the decision

Before making any decision, it is important to take a step back and assess what your goals are.

What are you trying to achieve? What are your priorities? 

Once you have a clear understanding of your goals, you can begin to weigh your options and see which decision will best help you to achieve those goals. It is also important to keep the purpose of your decision in mind.

What are the implications of this decision? How will it affect others?

Revisiting your goals and purpose is crucial to ensure that your team is motivated and aligned with the organization's goals.

By taking the time to consider your options and evaluate your goals, you can make sure that you're making the best possible decision for your team.

Additionally, this process can help to ensure that everyone on your team is on the same page and working towards the same goal.

Ultimately, taking the time to revisit your goals and purpose is an essential part of being a successful leader.

An empowered team is a key driver of business success.

When team members feel they are able to contribute and their voices are heard, they are more likely to be engaged in their work.

This, in turn, leads to better decision making, increased productivity, and improved morale. Additionally, empowering your team can help to foster a culture of leadership within the organisation.

As team members feel comfortable speaking up and sharing ideas, they will be more likely to step up and take on leadership roles.

Empowering your team is an effective way to improve both individual and group performance.

When done correctly, it can lead to tangible benefits for your organisation.
Does your organisation need help in this area of the business? Talk to us.