Making effective decisions is a valuable skill that every business owner or manager should improve. The decisions you make can have a significant impact on the success of your business. It’s important to approach them with careful consideration and a clear strategy. In this blog, I’m going to share my decades of business coaching experience to give you some great tips for effective decision-making in business that will help you improve your decision-making skills and improve your business and help you make better choices.
Remember not all decisions are necessarily problems. It might be as simple as “Do I take on this client or not?” or perhaps “Should I use this designer for my branding, or that other one?” or “Should I delegate this task or do it myself?” or “I’m working on an urgent quote and my phone is ringing; should I pick up?”
Sometimes the decisions we make are almost instantaneous; the below action steps may run through our head in seconds. For example, you’re working on an urgent quote for a big job for a potentially awesome client. The call on your phone could be an unimportant distraction which might cause you to lose track of where you are at in your quote, or even force you to miss a deadline … so a quick and quite small decision could actually have a strong impact on your business. Then, of course, other decisions could take days or weeks to actually reach a conclusion.
Decision-Making in Business
1. Define the Problem & How it Ties in With Your Business Objectives
Before you can make an effective decision, you need to fully understand the problem in front of you. Take the time to clearly define the problem (or question at hand) and identify all the factors that might influence your decision. A big question to ask yourself is: How will this affect or impact my business goals? Knowing your problem, or objective or goals, will help you to set and define a clear direction. It also helps to avoid making decisions based on assumptions or decisions which will take you in the wrong direction.
2. Gather Relevant Information
Once you have defined the problem, gather all the relevant information you need to make an informed decision. This may involve conducting research, consulting with experts, or gathering feedback from your team, your customers / clients and even your suppliers. Taking the time to gather all the necessary information will ensure that you have a complete understanding of the situation, before making your decision. Diverse perspectives can be valuable and often someone will raise a point you hadn’t considered – so hence it’s great to involve your team. Plus, your team feel more involved, valued and often become more engaged.
3. Think everything through
In other words, analysis. After you’ve got all the necessary information, start some quick analysis. Or not so quick if there is much to consider and this will be a BIG decision. Consider the pros and cons of each option. You have to assess the possible impact of each option on your business. Use tools such as SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) to evaluate each option objectively and thoughtfully. Bear in mind the potential risks and benefits of each option. Are the costs or resources available? This will help you make a more informed decision and identify the best course of action for you and your business. Just one warning; don’t get caught up in ‘analysis paralysis’. You don’t want to spend so much time on the analysis that you simply don’t get any action moving forward.
4. Consider the Long-Term Implications
This comes down to being strategic. Before making a decision, consider the long-term effects of your decisions. How will your decision impact your business in the future? What about your long-term goals? Consider your values. Sometimes, short-term gains may not be worth the long-term consequences they come with, so be sure to look at the big picture as you consider everything.
5. Maintain a Flexible Mindset
Business environments are constantly changing, and what may have been a good decision yesterday may not work today, or even tomorrow. It’s important to maintain a flexible mindset and be open to adapting your decision if new information or circumstances arise. This applies also if someone makes a suggestion you might not have previously considered. Rather than just dismissing it, ask more questions. Why do you suggest we go in that direction? What is the thought or logic behind a recommendation? It’s often good to write all ideas down, even if initially, in your head, you don’t think it will work.
6. Trust Your Intuition
While gathering information and analysing options are important, there is also value in ‘listening to your gut’ and trusting your instincts. As we become more experienced in business (and life) we develop instincts and feelings. If it feels wrong, it probably is. If the thought of something makes you exceedingly nervous, maybe it’s not a great idea. Slight discomfort (moving out of your comfort zone) is one thing, but a nagging feeling in the pit of your stomach is quite another. Don’t underestimate the power of your intuition!
7. Learn from Previous Experience
Hindsight is a powerful tool when it comes to decision-making. Take the time to reflect on past decisions and how things turned out. Don’t harp on the negative, but learning is good. This self-reflection can help you refine your decision-making process and help you identify where you might not be great at decision-making. Do you have a tendency to lead by your heart? Do you usually not listen enough to other’s ideas? Alternatively, perhaps you listen too much to everyone else and become ‘wish-washy’ when making decisions? Continuously improving how you do business, including how you make decisions, will ultimately lead to better outcomes for your business. If something didn’t work (or failed) then gain value from that incident and make that a learning experience.
8. Be Decisive
In business, there is often a need for quick decision-making, especially in today’s very fast-paced world. Whilst it is important to gather relevant information and think through options, don’t fall into procrastination, or over analysing. Get your facts, decide confidently and then act. Remember, it’s better to make a well-informed decision and course-correct (if needed) than to delay the decision-making process and miss out on opportunities.
Making decisions is important and really, it’s part of every day for a business owner. You can also use different methods of decision-making. One can be the process of elimination, where you might have 5 choices and you remove the least suitable, then the second least suitable, until you’re left with the most suitable. Another is the point system – especially when recruiting, that can work really well. A Pros/Cons list works at times. Find your method (or methods) and what works best for you.
As an experienced business coach, I’m helping clients every day in making decisions. For example, I:
- Provide objective guidance
- Ask thought-provoking questions
- Often play ‘devil’s advocate’
- Draw from my own extensive experience
- Allow clients to share in a safe and confidential environment
- Am a person in your corner and provide support
- Teach clients different ways to make decisions
- Am someone to bounce ideas off or brainstorm with
- Provide accountability.
If you would like to know more about my business coaching services, how I can help business owners in every aspect of business, including decision-making and other soft skills, reach out to me. Whilst based in Queensland, I provide business coaching services to clients in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and yes, in all areas of Queensland, from Brisbane up to Townsville and Cairns. I don’t lock clients into long-term contracts and I share my decades of experience around many subjects including time mastery, marketing, sales, systems, recruitment and retention, operational effectiveness, strategic goal setting and much more. Reach out to me today; I’d love to hear from you. My passion is your potential!
Read Setting Personal Goals.
