Introduction
Do you believe you possess good decision-making skills in your job? Decision making is a natural skill for some employees while others struggle to make even the most basic work decisions. While personality types can play a role in the ability to make decisions at work, decision-making skills can also be learned.
Decision-Making Reluctance
One reason workers do not like to make decisions is they do not want to be held responsible for the outcomes. This reluctance is a defense mechanism as other employees, or worse, your boss might find fault with your result if you do not decide wisely. It could diminish the confidence others have in you regarding your ability to make tough work decisions like hiring the right employee for your open position. However, you can take steps to reduce mistakes from happening.
Factors In Solid Decision-Making Skills
Here we list 4 important factors to help you improve and exploit your decision-making skills…
- Confidence In Your Decision-Making Skills
- Having the Right Information
- Developing a List of Alternatives
- Considering Pros and Cons
Each of these 4 important factors play a role in your in decision-making skills…
1. Confidence In Your Decision-Making Skills
One of the main factors in decision-making is confidence. Therefore, building confidence will help you make decisions. Other employees will also follow your lead as they will respect your confidence. Your manager will give you more freedom to act if you naturally display confidence in your own decision-making skills. When you make decisions confidently, your associates in your department have no choice but to recognize your authority.
2. Having the Right Information
Good decision-making skills require finding out the right information. You will not get far if you start making decisions without information to back them up. You need to be informed when making your decisions which means you have a bit of detective work to do. You have to get as many of the facts as you can before making most decisions.
Unfortunately, often on a day-to-day basis, you will not have all the facts you need (or would like to have) for one reason or another. When that is the case, you will need to take a leap of faith and rely on your confidence when making decisions. That’s an unfortunate part of the process and one that makes people choose wrong directions sometimes. But, as long as you decide using the information you have available, you can defend your choice.
3. Developing a List of Alternatives
As part of the decision-making process, consider coming up with alternatives. List out all possible alternatives based on the current information. You can rate the alternatives on a scale of your choosing. This rating can help you when making the decision. You could, for example, choose a star-rating system or a percentage system (0-100), or some other approach that you are most comfortable with.
4. Considering Pros and Cons
Another technique workers with good decision-making skills like to use is to list out the pros and the cons. To do this, take out a blank piece of paper and write a dividing line in the center. Create the heading “Pros” on the left, and “Cons” on the right. Then, list out the pros and the cons. You can use this to guide you with your decision. Try not to make this process too mechanical as the list will likely contain several subjective items.
Conclusion
Asking yourself and associates questions, evaluating possible results, using logic, sorting out information, instinct, and other skills are all required for good decision-making skills. Employers search for and recruit workers with good decision-making skills. They recognize that captures so many other required skills to succeed in the workplace.
Flexicrew Support
Many of our trained Account Managers will explain that employers do not believe they can teach decision-making skills but someone with the right attitude, practice and assertiveness will quickly develop the aptitude for decision=makings skills on the job. Talk to one of Flexicrew’s professional recruiters and take advantage of their broad experience or just get some feedback on your current work situation. Call us Today.