One of the most important skills that a leader should possess is good decision making ability. Having good decision making skills improves productivity of the company or group. Leaders are often faced with problems or issues that need to be solved—it is a part of their job. Some of these issues are easy to resolve while others are more difficult. No matter what kind of problem you are facing as a leader, you should observe good leadership principles for making good decisions that can ultimately improve your team’s productivity. Here are some basic leadership principles in relation to decision making that you need to know.
Make decisions at the right time
There are two kinds of mistakes a leader can make when making a decision—one is making the decision too early and the other is making it too late. It is important that you know when to strike that will give you the most benefit. This book may be teaching you about quick decision making without overanalyzing but this does not mean that you should make them too swiftly even when you do not have all the facts yet. As a leader, you need to know proper timing when making decisions that will boost your team’s productivity.
Align them to your organization’s goals
When making decisions as a leader, you need to make sure that every action you make is aligned with your organization’s goals. If your decisions and actions are in line with your company’s overall goal, your team’s productivity will surely increase. For instance, if the goal of the company is to broaden the target market, and you have decided to innovate your existing product to make it more marketable to both young and old customers, the higher-ups will know that your team is being productive because it is contributing to the achievement of the company’s goal.
Learn how to balance
Making a decision requires a lot of balancing act on your part. For example, you need to weigh the pros and cons and make sure that the decision you have chosen has more pros than cons or at least try to balance the negatives and positives. You should also balance the act of not worrying and the act of evaluating the issue. You need to analyze the options presented to you but you should stop yourself from over thinking. It is also important to strike a balance between thinking and acting. You need to know when thinking is required and when you need to stop doing it and instead, take the necessary actions.
Know the different elements of a decision
Decisions are composed of different elements such as your goals or the things that you want to achieve, the information that you have, the possible outcomes, and the steps or actions that you can take. Of course, what you have in mind or what you have planned for may be different from the reality but it is important not to give up and to stick to your decision. By learning how to make good decisions for the whole team, you will definitely improve your team’s productivity that can help boost your business.
