Avoiding Decision Making Paralysis
Avoiding Decision
Making Paralysis
Improving your organization starts with direction.
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We often are asked if we record feedback from Entrepreneurs starting or expanding a business, and what businesses say "surprises" them about the business process. Every entrepreneur is different, with varying acumen across the myriad of skills a successful entrepreneur needs to achieve lasting success. But, the one common element that we hear from business people is they weren't prepared for the sheer volume of decisions they must make on a daily basis. The "decision overload" can lead to a dangerous situation for management; something we call "decision paralysis". Time continues to move and the market continues to change (rapidly), so the inability to meet challenges or fix problems because of decision fatigue can hurt a small business in innumerable ways. Below are some ways you can create better systems to decrease "menial" decisions and improve your ability to reason through the innumerable decisions a modern manager must make (say that five times fast) on any given business day.
Decision making is a process. Identifying the problem, researching an issue, hypothesizing a solution, communicating the proposed solution to receive pre-implementation feedback (some call this "water proofing"), declaring benchmarks to determine success, implementing the solution and then determining the effectiveness of the solution post-implementation. We often conduct this process without even thinking about it for "easy" decisions. But, more complex issues require more detailed examination of the decision making process.
Realize that not making a decision still commits your organization to a particular path.- Even when you think you are standing still, you are moving (usually backwards). The example we use to illustrate that on a human scale is a
Standardize areas that require frequent, similar decisions made on a regular basis.- Sometimes the "little" decisions are the ones that stress out business owners the most. Things like taking out trash and cleaning windows can pile up and produce frustration and contempt. For standard items, purchase a white board and make a list of jobs that must be completed on a daily, weekly or monthly basis and have staff sign up (or at least make sure they are getting done). Checking items off a list can lead to a sense of accomplishment and it makes those around you accountable for completing a task without constant direction.
Understand that lack of leadership is not an option for successful businesses.- People often want success, but they don't always want to do the
Identify the real basis for the problem.- This sounds simple, but identifying "cause" often makes us take actions that we may find uncomfortable. Less customers walking through the door may make a business contact customers for feedback, and that feedback could result in changes (if you want to maintain customers). Are you not attracting high quality employees? Maybe it's a function of your training program, pay scale, interviewing skills, hours or incentives. Do people not know who you are (still)? A lack of effective company advertising, disheveled marketing, unkempt branding, interactive events or incentives for existing happy customers to produce positive "word of mouth" could be an issue. By thinking through problems critically, you can identify their basis and work to solve issues over time.
Understand the "low hanging fruit" model of problem solving- Most businesses can't wave a magic wand and increase their inflows by
Communicate your mission/vision, and make your team a part of executing your goals.- If people don't know what you are about, they can't help execute your vision. Sometimes businesses are overwhelmed by the amount of decisions they are asked to make because staff doesn't understand the basis for the decisions. Without a an understanding of the "why" behind decisions, staff will ask questions about things that some would consider menial because they can't figure out the decision making culture. Some simple discussions explaining your values system, and tying that system to decision making by using examples, can create a more organic work environment. Managers must observe employees and offer feedback, but this system should decrease the quantity of decisions made.
"Because that's the way it's always been done" is not an acceptable answer.- Remember how frustrated you would get as a child when a parent would answer a question with "because I said so"? Well, "that's the way it's always been done" is the business equivalent of that statement. The world is changing, doing things a certain way simply out of a sense of tradition instead of a sense of measurable success almost guarantees failure over time. The question shouldn't be "why change?", the question should be "why not improve?" If an action can't be justified with a reasonable explanation, it might be time to reflect on the validity of the action. Tradition cannot become a justification for inaction. You must maintain a positive culture and ensure that decisions work towards supporting your goals, but we often defend the indefensible or avoid change with a "tradition" defense.
Positive change can build excitement, or rid you of dead weight.- Many
Stay consistent in your approach- Identify, communicate, implement and measure. By creating a process within your organizational decision making, you can create a sense of stability through changes. When managers make
Others can act as a sounding board, but the decisions made belong to you.- It's good to get different perspectives on issues, but when people must ask about their target market or their place within the market, it is generally a symptom of a larger problem. The question of "who am I" is fundamental to business success, and must be answered by the individual business or organization. You cannot successfully be all things to all people; it is a marketing impossibility. You cannot expect to look to competitors to be "what they are not" as an organizational development strategy. At the end of the day, you have to make decisions based on your values and culture. Bounce ideas off of people to distill your concepts into something that can be easily understood, but you must be who you are.
The exciting part of modern business and organizational development is |