How to become a good decision maker

Here are a few pointers on how you can become a good decision maker.

Consider Facts - Any decision you make must be based on facts that have been verified and authenticated so that your decision is a rational one. Remember the acronym CARF, which means that you have “considered all relevant factors”.

Be Objective - Do not be influenced by people in around you who may want you to rule in their favor. When people start working together, there is a tendency to form cliques. Each cliques will have its own way of doing things. As a decision maker, it is your duty to ensure that you remain apolitical and base your jugdement on your effective understanding of the situation.

Avoid “groupthink’ mentality - This is charaterised by situation where all the members of a group or team feel that they are invicible and whatever decision and action they take will not fail. Such a situation comes about when an organisation has been relatively successful in most of its endeavours and there is an overall sense of complacency. You will notice the effect of a “groupthink” mentality when you are at meetings or group discussions and everyone seems to agree with everyone else.

Take Action - To be an excellent decision maker, you must also be the kind of person who takes action. Once you have made a decision,you must give yourself a timeline for its implementation.

Learn From Failure - There will be times when things do not quite turn out the way you wanted. There is no guaranteed success formula in decisison making. Even if you have made wrong decision, what makes you an effective individual is your ability to assess the damage and come up with a solution to put things right.