Publication number: ELQ-27206-1
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How to Make Decisions To Match Your Business Needs
7 Levels Of Decision Making To Match Business Needs
Introduction
Nothing happens in business until someone makes a decision. These days, with the market moving at warp speeds, the timeliness of decision making is also critical. What might have been the right decision yesterday, may be the wrong decision tomorrow. Yet one of the most common complaints I hear as an advisor to businesses is that the decision process is arbitrary or broken.
The challenge is that everyone, including the experts, seem to have a different view of the right decision process, and when it should be used. To put this into perspective, I found a good summary of the different levels of delegation and enablement in a recent book, “Effective People Management,” by Pat Wellington, who is an experienced international executive and consultant.
She suggests that the level of decision delegation should be commensurate with the experience and knowledge level of both the manager and the team involved in working the issue. If the team is very experienced, the manager should delegate more and move up higher on the following numerical scale for optimum decision effectiveness and speed:
- Step n°1 |
Manager decides and announces the decision (tells)
The manager at this level reviews options in terms of objectives, priorities, timescale, and then autocratically decides on an action and informs the team of the decision. This approach will likely de-motivate experienced teams, but may be required when time is of the essence.
- Step n°2 |
Manager decides and then communicates to others (sells)
At this level, the manager makes the decision, but then explains the reasons and the positive benefits accruing to the team, the company, and customers. The decision then becomes part of the team learning process, and confidence in the manager increases rather than decreases.
