adminShelter Chieza Change Management
A person, on average, has the ability to make more than one thousand decisions in a single day. Besides the usual work-related decisions, a manager is faced with extremely fatal choices to make that either make or break the company’s future. Human error or judgment often gets in the way and as such costly mistakes are recorded in the process. It turns out, there are some really interesting ways our decisions are affected, and luckily we can take action to improve most of these.
What I found really interesting were the various things that affect our brain’s decision-making process without us ever realising them. A manager’s strategic role is to instil within the workers a sense of belief of their mission and vision. It is then easier for employees to bear allegiance to the company and its products or services.
It would be much easier if the shop shelves only had one particular brand of toothpaste. But because of the extreme choices on the shelves the consumer job becomes so much more complicated. Decisions made by managers take a lot of effort, in fact it would be much safer and easier if managers had a manual and recipe to solve the high sales targets that have been set for us.
Managers struggle with information overload and some of the choices made by their predecessors. Five months down the line, the zeal is lost and they make the same mistakes because the organisation is too flat. The problem is that making a decision is a lot of effort. We would rather not decide, so we’re likely to just stick with the default option if it’s already been chosen for us.
When consumers are offered too many options, they end up simply choosing anything just to get the process over and done with.
The human brain never gets better over time in making decisions. The more decisions we make in a row, be it choosing the best marketing strategy or operations scheme, the more tired our brain gets, leading us to either give less thought to our decisions or choose lower-risk, “safe” options simply to avoid the effort of making a difficult decision.
That’s why I personally prefer mornings. I tend to relegate my less “important meetings” to the afternoons. I am more attuned to take risks and make harder choices early in the morning. Where decisions must be made at later times, taking a break without making any choice at all is recommended because the brain needs a proper rest.
If you know you are going to be making an important decision at say 5pm, schedule some rest period immediately before that time. I find it easier to tackle decision-making in a very systematic way. Start by stating the problem. You can then define what the most critical thing that needs to be done is. Later on you must develop a diagnostic framework which must be used.
Make sure you tabulate the raw data to help with analysis. Some specific conclusions about the nature of the problem and its resolution should have been reached.
Develop an action plan and implement it. Do not forget to evaluate and obtain feedback. You must understand that as a manager you influence deliberations that lead to other decisions. Your decision management skills must influence and guide the people around to make effective decisions that enhance the company’s prosperity.
Intuitively, when we make a decision, could be a choice to either rent or buy a machine, we internally enhance the positive aspects of our choice and denigrate the other options to alleviate doubt and discomfort with our decision.
After making a choice, you are bound to convince yourself that you have made the best decision, rarely do you scrutinise your decision. As you make your decision, keep the following in mind: Make a decision if there was real need to acquire it, keep it or act upon it.
Also scrutinise your investment. Decision makers must weigh the material resources needed to make a decision. Consider the direct expenses, staff time, the emotional costs, including stress, conflict and uncertainty in the organisation. You must decide who will make this decision and how they will decide? Should a particular decision be made by a senior executive or delegated?
Look at the options available; look for the ideal solution to avoid wasting minimal resources. Gather options through soliciting ideas from staff, seeking input from a consultant, brainstorming and evaluating how other organisations have responded to a similar issue. Decisions are shaped by predictions, opinions and projections; it’s important to evaluate their accuracy and determine how much weight to give them.
The quality of these judgments improves markedly as the number of people participating in the process increases-particularly when the participants provide a variety of viewpoints.
Till next week, may God richly bless you!
◆ Shelter Chieza is a Management Consultant. She holds over a decade of Management Experience. She can be contacted at [email protected]
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