Importance of wise decision making in personal and professional life

Discuss about the Decision Making Process in an Organization.

Decision making is one of the most important processes that each and every individual has to go through at some or the other point of time in life.  The individuals must be concerned about being very wise while making the important decisions. Decisions form a very part of life both in the person an in the professional fronts as well. Often taking a wrong decision can make the individual suffer through a very big loss. There are phases where the individuals have to make important decisions in their work fields as well. A good decision-making post is that of the manager where they have to take many important decisions. It is based on their decisions that the working of the entire management takes place. I try to take the decisions very carefully as I think that inculcating a good decision-making habit will enable me to become a good manager in the near future (Lerner et al., 2015). I aspire to become a good manager and I know this will require me to make very important decisions at each and every step. However, I have seen this in the course of my life that there are different situations that need different decisions. I try to abide by all the models and the theories of decision making before reaching any particular conclusion (Andrews, 2017).

One of the most important techniques that I always try to abide by is the process of recollection of the memories. Whenever I face any problem I try to go back to my childhood or any of the past events that have occurred to me. It is from here that I am often able to extract some tips or some methods of finding the decision for the problem that I am facing. I can cite here one such example that happened a few days ago when I started working at a company as an intern. I saw that one of the teammates was not able to perform properly for many days and he was feeling very lost and was suffering from lack of concentration. I talked with him and wanted to know if everything was going fine. I came to know that he is suffering from a huge tension at home. His mother is suffering from jaundice and he needs a huge amount of money for taking his mother to doctor (Blachman, Canter & Gomez, 2018). He was not in a sound financial condition and he was unable to deal with this work pressure at the same time. All these together made him very restless and unmindful. I wanted to help him. The only way to help him was to ease his work pressure and help him with some money. However, I was new to the professional world and had my own work pressure. So it was hard to decide if I am able to take up this responsibility. I did not want to take the responsibility band then fail (Jorm, 2015). I used the technique of recollecting my memories. Once in my school, I was very ill and was unable to attend class for a long time. One of my classmates helped me a lot by writing all the class notes for me and updating me with all the in-class activities that were taking place. It was because of him that I was able to appear for the exams. He not only helped me with the study materials but also supported me morally and gave me confidence. So I decided to do the same here. I asked my colleague to take a leave and also supported him by dividing his part of the work among us that is the rest of the interns.  We also decided on helping him financially by giving him a certain portion of our first salary. This was the resulting group discussion and also multi-voting. All the teammates agreed to the fact that we must really extend our hands to help this colleague who was in need (Aziz et al., 2015).

Recollection of memories as a decision-making technique

In the context of real life, I have seen decisions failing for the reason that the best of the alternatives not always come with a clarified motive. This is why, I realize that problem solving skills should be combined with Decision making policies, so that the aim and outcome of the undertaken decisions are clarified.

A logical and ordered process is to be undertaken for making decisions and assuring that the critical elements that led the decision to be taken are all addressed. I feel that a step wise approach is necessary to accomplish the same. The first step that I prefer to take in this context is investigation of the situation       that demands the decision to be undertaken. A good decision, according to me, should be backed up by alternatives. The next step is an in-depth research regarding the possible alternatives. It is after all these steps only that the best solution is to be determined and even after the determination, the decision is to be self-evaluated and the possible means in which the decision can be countered is to be thought of, in advance.

I am working as an assistant manager and I often have to take the much important decision. However, I try to take the decision by following a collective approach. I believe that if I am involving many of the employees together then I will be able to get the best ideas for taking the decision. I am often in favor of using the Delphi method. This method not only helps me to take a right decision but at the same time, it also helps in initiating a team bonding and a feeling of cooperation among all the individuals. I find this method to be very interesting because the name of the facilitator here is not known and the creative ideas are circulated among all the employees of the organization. Being the assistant manager I take the role of the facilitator and I ask all the employees to follow the method of brainstorming and find out some of the other ideas. I collect those ideas and then shuffle them among each and every team member. However, I keep the name of the owner or the creator of the idea hidden. This also helps in keeping up the interest among all the team members (Laudon & Laudon 2016). I collect the ideas pass it on to the other members and then ask them to modify those ideas if they feel that there are some of the other changes that they want to make.

Stepwise approach for making decisions

This happened while the office was arranging for a charity program. This was very much part of the CSR activities of the company. My manager gave the charge for me to select the best activity that we could take up this time for performing the CSR activities. So I made it a point to discuss this with all the employees. I had to choose one of the best ideas among those ideas that would be given by the employees. So I used the idea of Delphi technique. I asked the employees to jot down their ideas of the charity program that they want the office to conduct (Kagel & Roth, 2016). I was getting varieties of ideas from so many different employees. However, I knew that I had the charge of choosing the best among all the ideas that I was getting. It is for this reason that I used this Delphi method. I saw different responses from different employees. Some of the employees were of the opinion that we must conduct a music show at the office by inviting some famous band. We will explain the motive behind conducting the show and the money that will be collected from the artists performing in that show (Usmani, 2017). However, I saw that some of the other employees were of a different opinion. I came to know this when I circulated these ideas to the rest of the employees. However, I did not let any of them know who the owner of those ideas was. Some of the employees suggested some or the other corrections or rather modifications to the ideas.  Among all the interesting ideas that I got from all the employees, I had to select the best one. So, I selected the idea that we will be conducting the music show but we will not make the artists perform totally at free of cost. We will be collecting half of the money as charity and will give the rest to the artists. This approach will help us in making the artists happy and will also help in making the charity event a great success (Nair, Binu & Kumar, 2015).   I know that as I gain experience and move forward in life I will be asked to take many decisions and perform some very difficult tasks. It is based on how I perform that I will be given the positions and the promotions in my workplace. It is for this reason that I always try to take the decisions based on the most important models of decision making (Modrak & Bosun, 2014). 

Using the Delphi method for collective decision making

There are many different employees working within any organization. All these employees come from different economic and socio-cultural backgrounds. So, working as a team leader, I make sure that I am not overlooking the interest of any one of the employees. I always follow the four-step decision-making system called the Command, Census, Vote, Consensus technique (Snyder & Diesing, 2015).

There are both the models of managerial meeting and management decision-making models. It is for this reason that I always abide by those models while making any decision. I make sure that I am analyzing the situation properly and then using the technique that would best suit the need of the situation. I often find that some of the employees do not want to abide by the decisions of the management. It is during such case I have to use the command style decision making (Kreps, 2018). I do not take the opinion of other employees while I find this kind of a situation. I keep this in mind that I have to be a bit strict if I need to train my teammates and explain to them the rules. I have to teach them the decorum. Most of the other times in my professional life and on some fronts of my personal life, I have been following the consult style decision making. I like this process as it is a collaborative method of decision making and it involves taking the idea and the advice of so many different people at the same time. This process also helps in getting a huge scope of new ideas. I also use the Vote style decision-making system at times. This voting system is very efficient and time-saving way of taking any decision. When it comes to any important official decision I usually abode by this method. All the office employees want their voices to get heard and they feel good if they can cast their vote or their opinion. The consensus style decision making is also one of the most important styles of decision making. However, I try to apply this method only when the decision is being supported by all and the issue that is being discussed is of great importance and complicated nature. I make sure that the decision is not being taken randomly and not being forced upon the employees (Klein, 2016). I make sure to apply the consensus style of decision making only when the cause or the issue is being supported or being agreed by all (Bouzon et al., 2016).

Different decision-making models and styles

I believe that the cognitive aspects are of great importance behind taking any decision. The cognitive process of each and every individual includes the steps like attention, perception, and recognition, reading speaking listening, memory, and learning, problem-solving, reasoning decision making and other such processes. I have realized this that I am very sensitive to the stimuli or any kinds of happening that are taking place around me. By means of this I as always aware of the common mistakes that I have committed in the decisions taken in the past. Other than making a straightforward decision, I prefer to seek for contrary information, by means of which I would be able to counter the answers that I find despicable. This strategy have helped me a lot to develop my critical thinking capabilities. I always look to groups or communities that generally indulge in discussion based debates by means of candid conversional skills and or possess the capability of engaging in vigorous debates. The hierarchy of evidence is also essential. I have learned how to distinguish between the various sources from where the evidence is gathered and the quality of the collected information. (Zsambok & Klein, 2014). Whenever I feel much tensed I try to go back to the memories of my childhood or any of the past experiences and then try to connect the same.

There are also some models of decision making. It is based on those models that the decisions are to be taken. I often go by the OODA Loop model (Ford, 2017). This model is important because for being a successful manager I have to take many tough decisions and many of these decisions can be very complicated and time consuming. However, I cannot afford to make any wrong or unfit decision as this would affect the interest of the employees and the organization as a whole. This model is often very easy to follow and very clear in its priorities. This is a very straightforward decision-making model and depends on four principles like observe, orient, decide, act. These steps are very commonly known to each and every business individual. The first step is to observe the matter. I consider this to be one of the most important steps. I am a good observer and I like to make sure that I am observing each and every detail of the matter very minutely. This helps in making the entire matter very clear. The second is the step where I orient myself. This step is indeed very important as getting associated with the detailed piece of information is much needed to be able to make the best choice and reach to the best decision. It is only after getting associated and knowing details of the situation clearly, that I can get to the third step that is to the step of deciding. In other words, deciding what will be best for the given situation can be made only after the information has been known and analyzed clearly. The final step is the step to act on the decision. This is because taking the decision is not the end all and be all of any matter. After the decision has been taken the same has to be implemented properly so that all the employees are benefitted from it. The other model that I follow while taking some decisions is the recognition-primed decision model. Often there is very less time to react to any decision at the business level. This is because often there is a huge work and one is suffering from lack of enough time to sit and think about the matter for long. There are three steps that are involved in it, they are

• experiencing the situation
• analyzing the situation
• Implementing the decision

Applying appropriate decision-making techniques for different situations

The first part is to take in or to understand the situation. Unless the situation is understood properly, the steps for solving it cannot be taken. So, it is seen that in almost all the techniques or the models of decision making, the understanding part is of utmost importance. I support this step fully because I believe that being a manager I must always take such decisions that would be for the overall good of the company. The second is the stage of analyzing where all the collected information is gathered and the management tries to set many questions that might arise in the course of implementing this decision. I stay very careful during this stage. I ask myself many questions and then try to find out the possible answers to it. It is also in this analyzing phase that I try to reflect on the past experiences and then draw out the possible solutions. I often try to extract many ideas and important solutions from the mind by asking some very common questions like what can be the positive or the negative point from this situation? What can be the most surprising event in this? What can be the future risks and also I try to formulate ways that will help in solving this situation. This is how a decision can be made

The implementation stage must always be at the back of the mind right from the beginning of the problem. I keep on thinking about the implementation process of the decision that will be taken. As soon the decision has been taken the implementation process has to be started immediately. A decision can be considered the best decision only if that can be properly implemented. It has to be kept in mind that the decision which is being taken must be implemented practically. In other words, the decision must be practical enough and must work for the long-standing and the overall benefit of the employees. The other important decision-making model is the Ladder of inference. Often this is used for preventing the errors that are often made while making any decisions. This ladder is also used for breaking the personal biases, prejudices or any kinds of preconceived notions that might come in the way of taking the right and the best decision. There are seven rungs or layers in this model that shows the common process through which the human thought process usually passes. This also forms part of the cognitive aspect of human mind.

Conclusion

So, it can be concluded that decision making is one of the very important aspects of the modern-day scenario. One must follow the decision-making techniques and also the decision-making models while taking any decision. Making haste will taking a decision must be avoided. Decision making must be free from any bias or prejudice. The decisions that are taken by the managers must be long-standing and for the best interest of the people.  The decision makers must be involving all the people like their employees on the process of decision making. This can be done through the process of voting.

References

Andrews, J. (2017). Identifying Processes of Designing Effective Blended Learning Environments Utilizing a Modified Delphi Metho

Aziz, H., Gaspers, S., Gudmundsson, J., Mackenzie, S., Mattei, N., & Walsh, T. (2015, May). Computational aspects of multi-winner approval voting. In Proceedings of the 2015 International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (pp. 107-115). International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems.

Blachman, S. J., Canter, J. M., & Gomez, C. A. (2018). U.S. Patent Application No. 15/229,280.

Bouzon, M., Govindan, K., Rodriguez, C. M. T., & Campos, L. M. (2016). Identification and analysis of reverse logistics barriers using fuzzy Delphi method and AHP. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 108, 182-197.

Brady, S. R. (2015). Utilizing and adapting the Delphi method for use in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(5), 1609406915621381.

Bridge, J., & Dodds, J. C. (2018). Managerial decision making. Routledge.

Ford, D. (2017). When Sun-tzu Met Clausewitz:: The OODA Loop and the Invasion of Iraq. Daniel Ford.

Haz?r, Ö. (2015). A review of analytical models, approaches and decision support tools in project monitoring and control. International Journal of Project Management, 33(4), 808-815.

Jorm, A. F. (2015). Using the Delphi expert consensus method in mental health research. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 49(10), 887-897.

Kagel, J. H., & Roth, A. E. (Eds.). (2016). The Handbook of Experimental Economics, Volume 2: The Handbook of Experimental Economics. Princeton university press.

Klein, B. D. (2016). Developing an Applied, Integrated MBA Managerial Decision Making Course. Journal of the Midwest Association for Information Systems| Vol, 2016(2), 61.

Kreps, D. (2018). Notes on the Theory of Choice. Routledge.

Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2015). Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm Plus MyMISLab with Pearson eText–Access Card Package. Prentice Hall Press.

Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2016). Management information system. Pearson Education India.

Lerner, J. S., Li, Y., Valdesolo, P., & Kassam, K. S. (2015). Emotion and decision making. Annual Review of Psychology, 66.

Lewis, K. B., Stacey, D., Squires, J. E., & Carroll, S. (2016). Shared decision-making models acknowledging an interprofessional approach: a theory analysis to inform nursing practice. Research and theory for nursing practice, 30(1), 26-43.

Mahmoud, O. (2015). Book Review: Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics.

Modrak, V., & Bosun, P. (2014). Using the Delphi method in forecasting tourism activity. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 14, 66-72.

Nair, D. G., Binu, V. P., & Kumar, G. S. (2015). An improved e-voting scheme using secret sharing based secure multi-party computation. arXiv preprint arXiv:1502.07469.

Snyder, G. H., & Diesing, P. (2015). Conflict among nations: Bargaining, decision making, and system structure in international crises. Princeton University Press.

Söllner, A., Bröder, A., Glöckner, A., & Betsch, T. (2014). Single-process versus multiple-strategy models of decision making: Evidence from an information intrusion paradigm. Acta Psychologica, 146, 84-96.

Usmani, Z. A., Patanwala, K., Panigrahi, M., & Nair, A. (2017, March). Multi-purpose platform independent online voting system. In Innovations in Information, Embedded and Communication Systems (ICIIECS), 2017 International Conference on (pp. 1-5). IEEE.

Weir, A., Hölmich, P., Schache, A. G., Delahunt, E., & de Vos, R. J. (2015). Terminology and definitions on groin pain in athletes: building agreement using a short Delphi method. Br J Sports Med, bjsports-2015.

Weirich, P. (2015). Models of Decision-Making. Cambridge University Press.

Zsambok, C. E., & Klein, G. (Eds.). (2014). Naturalistic decision making. Psychology Press.