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"Business is all about decisions-decisions you make as an individual, a team member or a team leader. There are considered decisions that come with the luxury of time, like marketing plans and budgets, and then there are other decisions that are thrust upon you and have to be made instantaneously," said American Management Association President and CEO Edward T. Reilly. "Every decision can be important to your business-and your career." Reilly offers the following tips that will help you make sounder decisions:
Before you make a decision, carefully weigh the risks and rewards. Don't act, or react, without giving thought to the consequences. You want to make thoughtful decisions, not reckless ones.
Don't let your emotions influence your decisions. Too often, such decisions will be wrong-and regretted. After you have spoken, you may find yourself either backtracking or trapped.
Seek balance and moderation in your decisions. You don't want to be known as someone who is indecisive or is impulsive. Colleagues expect decisions to be made-it can be frustrating not knowing what course to take-but they also respect someone who listens and weighs information before making a decision.
Make decisions for the right reason. If you are in a position of strength, watch that one of your subsequent decisions won't actually diminish your power. Don't jeopardize yourself or your team out of bravado or to impress others with a grand gesture. Make decisions for the right reasons-weighing a fleeting moment of glory against the long-term consequences. Picture the worst-case scenario.
Compensate for your personal decision-making biases. Are you a 'numbers' person or a 'big picture' person? Do you look for the quick-fix or a long-term solution? Improve the quality of your decisions by better understanding yourself.
Practice the 80/20 rule. Recognize that 80 percent of the information you will need to make a good decision generally can be assembled in a relatively short time. Don't wait for the remaining 20 percent-in most instances, it isn't likely to change the situation.
Develop quiet confidence in your decision-making ability. The more decisions you make, likely the better they will be. Most professional decisions don't require Solomon-like wisdom, but they do require that you weigh the facts and understand the individuals involved. When you make the wrong decision, you need to be flexible enough to change direction.
As a leader, you are expected to make decisions. Teams need the clarity that decisions bring...even if the leader's decision is to postpone one for awhile. Team leaders often make the strategic decisions and rely on team members for the tactical ones.
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