Critical Decision Making

Critical thinking, or analyzing and evaluating information inputs, is vital to effective decision-making. Managers and team leaders who possess critical thinking skills are able to identify the internal and external factors that are infecting their organization and use effective decision-making tools and techniques to come up with a solution that benefits all stakeholders of the organization.

They are also able to use sound judgment and sift out the meaningful information from the irrelevant and misleading components. But how?

Framing the problem and Making the decision

In order to separate the issues from the symptoms, the first step to sound decision-making is framing the problem. Generally, framing the problem involves:

1) Identifying the problem

2) Defining goals and objectives, and

3) Evaluating the effect of the problem.

The use of comparison techniques, data collection, evaluation of available information, and urgency and criticality measures help to clearly identify the problem.

The use of these decision-making tools makes it easier to separate facts from fiction and symptoms from problems. The second step, making the decision, focuses considerably on creative thinking aids, such as brainstorming, to create problem-specific solutions. This phase also focuses on the determined causes of the problem, solutions/ alternatives, impacts of the solutions, and finally, implementing the decision.

Evaluating the decision

The final step of a sound decision-making process is evaluating the decision; this step implements the decision made and measures its impacts by evaluating the available information and applying critical thinking.

Another useful tool in effective decision making is the decision-making worksheet. This particular resource assists in the evaluation of the decision-making process and outcome. The decision-making worksheet provides managers and team leaders with a step-by-step evaluation so that no step is missed; thereby, increasing the effectiveness of the decision. A helpful tool for any advancing new manager.