A635.2.3.RB - How Companies Can Make Better Decisions

I can see employee engagement and organizational performance relating to decision effectiveness in a few different ways, the first being that when effective decisions are made and employees are aware of that good decision making it can result in further employee engagement and organizational performance. Alternatively, if ineffective decisions are being made employees can feel like their effort and work is not making any impact at the end of the day due to the ineffective decision making. When good decisions are being made, employees are ready to get behind those decisions, and organization performance is bound to follow.

Some challenges or impediments to good decision making include complex environments, various and diverse stakeholders, personal bias, and internal and external pressures. There are so many things that can impact decision making, so being a leader in the workplace its imperative that we aim to create a comfortable decision making environment, not only for leadership but also for team members as everyone is, or should be a decision maker.

Blenko claims that quality, speed, yield, and effort are the four elements of good decisions, in my opinion there are a few elements missing from this list. One element that I see as pertinent to decision making is patience, this may seem counterintuitive to speed but I do think it is critical to approach decisions with a level head and not have haste as your number one priority. I can admit that sometimes I am looking for a a quick solution to a problem or decisions to be made, but one too many times I have found that this approach as ineffective in the long run as minor details can be easily overlooked.

I can certainly take a few things away from this exercise and apply them to my own career. The first lesson being that decision making is ultimately a skill and something that should be looked upon as a skill in which you can work towards strengthening. Through this exercise I was able to recognize how I make decisions and how I can aim to make better decisions in my role.