Steps in the decision-making process

Step in the decision making process

The basic function of leaders is to make decisions. There are three elements of decision making, namely, the decision maker, the decision, and the decision-making process.

The decision maker: The leader who is the decision maker functions in a group or an organisation which is being influenced by the factors of leadership. Effective leadership actions are based on four major factors of leadership namely the subjects, the leader, the situation and communication. These factors influence and affect the actions a leader should take and when to take them.

The personality of a leader and the style of leadership have also great bearing on the decision process. For many years, people thought that the best leadership style was a participative style which prescribed listening to your subordinates and involving them in decision making. Autocratic leadership style, which involves the leader taking control and telling subordinates what to do, was considered inappropriate. In participative leadership style, the problem is that asking inexperienced subordinates of a team to participate in decision making amounts to 'pooling ignorance'. Some subordinates need a directive leadership style until their knowledge and skills are mature. The subordinates must not all be led in the same way. A leader must understand that no two situations are the same. As such leadership actions which worked in one situation may not work in another.

The decision: A decision is defined as choosing amongst alternative solutions to some problem. Decisions have been categorised in two categories i.e. structured and unstructured decisions. The principle forces a leader should consider when making an ethical decision are as follows:

1. Legal standards,
2. Basic national values,
3. Traditional values,
4. Actual values,
5. Individual values, and
6. Institutional values.

The quality of a decision is composed of the following things:

1. Timing: many ideas fail not because they are bad ideas, not because they are poorly executed, but because the timing is not correct.
2. Compatibility with operating constraints.
3. Information: effective decision will be made by a leader who is able to skilfully manipulate data and who through his or her influence can create a wide zone of acceptance. Data and facts are decision maker's tools, and sound decision making is a constant process of staying current, of perceiving how new information can alter old decisions.
4. Resource utilisation: the best leadership action is determined by available resources, competence, commitment and level of motivation for the subordinates to carry out the task.

The acceptability of the decision is a product of avoidance of conflict  of interests, motivation, leadership and knowledge. A lot of questionable decisions have worked because the leaders who made them were determined to make them work. And a lot of good decisions have failed because the leaders never got over their doubts. As a leader, do not undermine your decision's chance for success and do not second-guess a decision you have made.

The decision making process

The decision making process is a conscious process for selecting a course of action from two or alternative for the purpose of achieving a desired result. Decision making is taking analytical facts, data and figures, and converting them in sensory perceptions. The diagram below shows the decision making process:

Decision making process 

In leadership, decision making is more an intuitive process than an analytical one. Leading is a constant process of breaking out of systems and challenging conditioned reflexes. Leaders should not be bound only by what they already know. Leaders need to look beyond the old facts and data. Academic models are condemned to teach the past. This perpetuates conventional thinking, and it stifles creativity.

As a leader, you must be aware of the difference between a leader and a manager. A successful leader operates more in the realm of imagination, art and creativity while a manager is confined to stipulated and proven methods. Managers are too dependent on old facts or are still basing decisions on old ideas and antiquated methods that worked many years ago. They forget that circumstances change. They are confined to elephantine decision making; a circus trains a baby elephant from running away by chaining it to a stake. When the animal pulls at the chain, the chain chafes its leg, and the baby elephant concludes that to avoid pain its best to stay put. But when the elephant grows up, the circus still chains it to the same small stake. The mature elephant could now pull the stake out of the ground, but the elephant remembers the pain and is too dumb to use the new sets of facts. The tiny stake keeps a two-tonne elephant at bay just as effectively as it did when it was a baby.

Fear of failure is the single biggest problem that leaders have with decision making. But what many leaders don't appreciate is that fear of failure is one of the greatest positive motivators in leadership. If a leader is not afraid of failure, then the leader probably doesn't care enough about success. To achieve things, a leader must have a leadership attitude that shows that he has the best interest of the group in mind and that he is not afraid to take risks and make decisions.

The job of a leader is to make decision and tell people what to do. Many situations have more than one situation. A wise leader gets all the facts, weighs against the other, and then calmly and quickly arrives at a sound decision. Sound decision making implies the ability to compare facts, data, ideas, situations and perceive their relationship and thus to distinguish essentials from non-essentials to anticipate results and visualize consequences. A leader must also keep a flexibility of mind so that he can change his mind when it is necessary.

A logical thought process is essential for solving a problem or making a plan. Decisiveness is largely a matter of practice and experience. Decisiveness is the ability to make decisions promptly when required and announce them concisely, and clearly. The leader's intention and his proposed method of execution must be made perfectly clear to all taking part.