This article by Kat Boogaard delves into the established blueprint for decision-making, guiding you and your team to identify challenges, weigh options, and make well-informed choices. The author breaks down each stage in this process and provides insights on how to tackle them.
A summary of the effective decision-making covered in the article:
1. Identify the decision
1. Identify the decision
- Understand the exact problem or goal.
- Techniques: Use the "5 whys analysis" and problem framing.
- Pitfall: Avoid decision fatigue by tackling one decision at a time.
2. Gather information
- Build your case with relevant data.
- Techniques: Team mindmapping, create a project poster.
- Pitfall: Beware of information bias by avoiding unnecessary or irrelevant information.
3. Identify alternatives
- Brainstorm diverse solutions.
- Techniques: Six Thinking Hats technique, brainwriting.
- Pitfall: Avoid "groupthink", where teams lean towards conformity.
4. Consider the evidence
- Evaluate all potential solutions.
- Techniques: SWOT analysis, project trade-off analysis.
- Pitfall: Avoid the rush to decision-making.
5. Choose among the alternatives
- Make an informed choice.
- Techniques: Use the DACI framework, team voting.
- Pitfall: Avoid analysis paralysis.
6. Take action
- Implement the decision and communicate.
- Techniques: Stakeholder communications plan, define goals and measures.
- Pitfall: Trust the decision and avoid self-doubt.
7. Review your decision
- Reflect and learn.
- Techniques: 4 L’s retrospective, celebrate wins.
- Pitfall: Avoid hindsight bias.
For more information and links to all covered techniques, read the article.
