How to Make Decisions Faster

Some decisions, you can sleep on. But business decisions tend to have deadlines, or represent a lost opportunity if you can’t make a decision quickly enough. The challenge is determining what to do and when to do it while avoiding pitfalls that can get in the way of decisive action.There are four main barriers that hold you back from acting confidently and efficiently in the face of any decision — so here’s how to tackle them.

Procrastinating

Putting off a decision again and again makes leaders look weak, and it holds back business progress. This often happens when decisions are weighty or have big consequences. If you find yourself procrastinating:

• Give yourself plenty of time to work on the problem. But set a deadline earlier than required so you can think through the consequences more carefully.
• Jot down the facts as you understand them. Review them from every possible angle in order to get every perspective.
• Break the decision into smaller tasks. Doing so can make it easier to manage and create momentum.

Being Unorganized

A tricky decision is hard enough, but being unorganized can make everything worse. While these tips won’t get your entire office in line, they can help you see a decision clearly if you tend to take a scattered approach.

• Review the facts and discard irrelevant information early. You don’t need distractions, so focus only on the decision at hand. If you have trouble identifying what’s irrelevant, use the Z-Model for decision making.
• Take notes throughout the decision process and use them in the future to approach other decisions. Doing so can save you time down the road.
• Plan from the end. What would an ideal outcome look like? What steps would you need to take to get there?

Fear of Being Wrong

Of course you want your decisions to be the right ones, but fear of making the wrong decision has held many leaders back from taking action. Reassure yourself that you’re considering every option, then:

• Let go of perfection. It’s an unrealistic goal in the face of the many decisions you have to make in a day.
• It’s always good to get more information, but don’t let it become an obsession to prevent mistakes. Practice making smaller, less-weighty decisions with less data.
• Trust your intuition when making decisions.

Complex Issues

Sometimes, it’s not your own inhibition holding you back from making a decision; it’s a sticky problem that has a lot of moving parts or stakeholders. Complex issues can seem insurmountable until you follow these tips:

• Establish a process. A pro/con chart or flowchart can help guide you through a decision.
• Again, break the issue down into several smaller problems that you can approach one at a time.
• Ask questions and dig for answers, but also understand that you may still have some ambiguity about the issue in the end. You’ll still have to make a decision, so be prepared to act.

Making decisions that others can’t or won’t make themselves is a big part of being a leader. Knowing how to overcome barriers to making decisions will make you a more effective one.Looking for ways to develop high-potential employees into leaders? Contact us to learn about our leadership development and coaching offerings.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.