“Whenever you see
a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” - Peter F.
Drucker
All of us must have had this situation at
least once in our life when we had that pit in our stomach telling us
continuously, “I am not very convinced with this decision you made.” Many a
times in life and work, we have to make difficult decisions some of which we
are not quite ready to make.
We at VJIM, stresses on this important
factor while training our students to
become a good manager in future. But there are a lot of thing you can do at
personal level as well. Here is a list of few factors:
1.
Preparation
This is the foremost requirement for
making the right decision. Try to collect all the relevant data and process it
effectively in order to get the most out of it. This would not only help
minimize confusion but also eliminate self-doubt while taking the decision.
2. Intuition and Logic
We take hundreds of decisions in a day.
Right from what to wear to what to eat and how to respond to the client email,
each decision needs a certain amount of mental effort. For bigger, much
important choices in life or at work, we need more time while other decisions
are just automatic and intuitive.
According to the renowned Psychologist
Daniel Kahneman, there are two ways of thinking - System One and System Two.
System One : This caters to the day to day
decision making. For example, when you are driving on the familiar road
everyday.
System Two : This caters to a much slower
and conscious decision making. One that includes complicated and important
business issues.
Having an understanding of these two
systems can lay a sound foundation for a successful decision making.
3. Right Mind Space
For making a right decision, the most
important thing you need is the right space of mind. Human mind wanders too
much and it is hard to make the right decision when you are juggling with a
dozen ideas at one time. It is extremely important to focus on making an
effective decision by clearing your mind off all the unnecessary thoughts.
Concentrate on one thing at a time and
work your way through the problem calmly and mindfully.
4. Careful Of Bias
Another hindrance to an effective decision
making is the presence of biases. Sometimes these are present without our
knowledge also. Presence of biases can be a disaster and affect our decision
making to a large extent. It is important to challenge the status quo and come
out of your comfort zone while making a decision. Only then the former
prejudices you have won’t come in the way of your current decision.
5. Trust Factor
Not only you have to trust yourself but
also your team. Self doubt can be responsible for a major error in decision
making. With a correct decision, not only will your organisation grow but also
the people involved.
6. Time Management
You won’t have your whole life for making
the right decision. Every decision, no matter how big or small, needs to be
taken under some sort of time pressure and therefore time management can be one
thing that will help you master the art of decision making.
