Jean Roberts

Jean’s Decision Tool is the fourth in this series.   

Managers make decisions.  Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Some decisions are made by the Manager alone; others by the Manager in consultation with her/his team; and yet others by the team within their individual or group delegated authority.

However, the process of making a decision can be a ready-made tool in maintaining peace, dealing with the possibility or reality of war – or a ready-made weapon in declaring, waging and winning war!

And then, implementation of a decision can be a different challenge.  One or more team members may feel uncomfortable or threatened, the Manager may see the decision as undermining his/her authority or status, all may know that implementation will not be welcomed by others in their organisation or company, or insufficient attention to the work involved in implementation is given by one or more of the team – or the Manager her/himself.

A tool is a resource, able to be used, applied or adapted to attempt or achieve a pre-determined impact, result or outcome.   It is the manner in which tools are understood and applied which determine war or peace!  Funnily enough, the tools are the same for war as they are for peace.

Remember that internal warfare at worst destroys and at best renders the management role and function – and sometimes the manager – ineffective.

References are given throughout this checklist to Jean’s Definitions and Jean Roberts Update – freely available on this website.

1. What is a decision?

a)    the selection, or process of selection, of a course of action from a range of possible alternatives

b)    read Jean’s Definition of Assume: you’ll find this under Definitions on this website

2. What does a decision look like?

a)    decisions are a common factor in any workplace, and come in seven distinct flavours:

. routine

. non-routine

. contentious

. non-contentious

. urgent

. important

. unnecessary

b)    read Jean’s Definition – what’s the difference between management and leadership: you’ll find this

under Definitions on this website

3. How does a Manager assess the value of a decision?

a)    decisions should be in line with the strategic and policy framework of the organisation – and the Manager’s area of responsibility and sphere of influence

b)    always examine the workplace implications of a financial decision – and the financial implications of a workplace decision

c)    when a decision is made, record the decision and immediately initiate an action plan:

• what is the desired or intended result, and what are the steps necessary to do so
• who does what, and in what order
• what is the timeframe for completion
• what is the likely – or maximum – cost
• how is progress to be monitored and reported

d)    read Jean’s Definition of Effective Communication: you’ll find this under Definitions on this website

A decision-making procedure is a series of sequential steps which ensure a consistent approach to decision-making, including:

• identification and diagnosis of a situation, difficulty or opportunity
• reflective development of a plan to relieve or remove the difficulty, or to capitalise on the opportunity
• implementation of the plan’s success or otherwise.
• read Jean Roberts Update, November/December 2009, with articles on both risk and innovation – you’ll find this under Jean Roberts Update on this website

The process of decision-making is the manner in which the procedure is followed to ensure a consistent quality of decisions.

Decision-making is one of the most important and consistent functions of a Board. As can be seen from the sequential steps, the procedure for making a decision clearly falls into three distinct activities which can be broken down further into seven stages.

Critical Success Factors in decision-making are:

1              a clearly stated style and process of decision-making

2              strategies and procedures in place to ensure consistency in decision-making

3              access to the decision-making process for all who have either an interest in, or could be affected

by, the process or the outcome of a decision

4              a record of all major decisions, which must also be recorded/documented

5              decision-making process and procedures that reflect the structure (ie delegation of authority and lines of

accountability) and philosophy of the organisation

6               read Jean Roberts Update, January/February 2010, with articles on The Art and Science of

Monitoring – you’ll find this under Jean Roberts Update on this website

The 7-stage decision-making model

Stage 1         Analyse the situation, difficulty or opportunity

Stage 2         Define and agree upon the situation, difficulty or opportunity

Stage 3         Examine alternatives for action

Stage 4         Explore implications of each alternative

Stage 5         Select the alternative to be acted upon

Stage 6         Implement the selected action

Stage 7         Review and evaluate the process and the decision

8 key questions to use in designing an implementation plan at Stage 6

As a basis for designing the implementation plan, the following questions are based around the eight key questions…  what, why, how, who, who for, when, where, and at what cost

Not every decision will need to be worked through to this degree of detail, as there will be many decisions made on the basis of:

• previous decisions, ie what has been done or not done previously
• existing policies and procedures, or
• expectations or requirements imposed by external factors or authorities.
• read Jean’s Definition of a Quality System – you’ll find this under Definitions on this website