In a dynamic work environment with ever -changing scenarios and exchange of ideas, the capacity to make the right decision is an essential talent that can be cultivated. From the C- suite to the shop floor, every employee is faced with the day-to-day challenges in making the apt choices. Needless to say, this collective responsibility needs to be honed properly to optimise the performance of any organisation. Therefore, development of this skill set and attitude at every level becomes the key factor to determine the success of any team effort. Let us examine the components that go into making an individual a better decision maker.
Critical Thinking Skills:
“The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”- Albert Einstein.
A work force that is empowered with critical thinking to question and understand issues, approaches work with a passion as their intellectual abilities are utilised. This boosts the employee’s confidence while contributing to the system’s growth. This also promotes a healthy culture of mutual respect and regard for other’s opinions, which is a positive influence for any employee, both professionally and personally. Asking insightful, open - ended questions to get different viewpoints certainly enables the team to see the problem from different angles. The emerging thought process brings to the table varying perspectives, which help in building a comprehensive solution, and minimizing unforeseen complications. Employ straightforward questioning techniques to collect diverse viewpoints. For example, "Can you elaborate on that," "Could you take me through your thought process," and "How does this affect our business in the short, medium, and long term".
Emotional Intelligence
Despite our desire to make objective, fact-based decisions, we humans are emotion-driven. Since our emotions influence the way we see and understand the world, we must invest a significant amount of time in developing our emotional intelligence (EI) abilities EI refers to the ability of a person to handle the emotions of self and that of others with such expertise as to avoid conflict between team members. This encompasses empathy, self- control, self- awareness and social skills; they are all essential for negotiating difficult decision-making situations. Steps to developing the Emotional Intelligence of members in any community ensures a safe haven where employees can put out their best, respecting different viewpoints. This essential component reduces work place stress many times more and enhances healthy work ethics.
Risk Assessment and Management:
Every day, we are faced with hundreds of decisions, some of which pertain to solving immediate problems, others for supporting the long-term goals of the organisation. Every choice will either move the team closer to the objectives or farther away from them. A good team is armed with the tools and expertise to dive deep into the perceivable risks associated with each decision and develops measures to mitigate any adverse outcomes. Naturally, confidence in this mechanism enables a careful, assured judgement process that maximises the opportunities that come one’s way.
Using decision-making frameworks:
As discussed so far, inculcating the ability to decision- making is essential, but it can be quite a daunting task if not approached systematically. Here comes the role of carefully constructed frameworks that can uniformly bring a change in the way an organisation thinks and acts. Decision-making frameworks offer organised methods for problem analysis, alternative evaluation, and decision-making. To encourage staff to bring a variety of viewpoints to the table, the firm can promote multi-level adoption of frameworks such as SWOT analysis, cost-benefit analysis, or simple decision tree analysis. Like any other skill, the organisation will gradually imbibe them and apply them with ongoing support from the leadership.
In conclusion, in order to make optimal, timely decisions, every company must look to diligently nurturing the appropriate qualities among their staff. Developing the habit of ‘Critical Thinking’, cultivating ‘Emotional Intelligence’ and excelling in ‘Managing Risks’ can all be facilitated by applying the relevant frameworks, thus making the judgement process assertive and fool-proof.
We advise businesses looking to improve their decision-making procedures to think about collaborating with a respectable supplier of human resource consulting services. You can improve the decision-making capabilities of your company and boost performance with customised solutions from a seasoned HR consultant in Dubai or anywhere else.