Practical Decision-making Skills for Managers is a valuable resource for every manager who needs to tackle the challenge of decision making - a key competency within every company. Decision making can make or break an organisation. So good decision-making skills are vital at all operational levels within an organisation.
Managers and team leaders need to be able to make reactive decisions on a daily basis concerning staff, procedures and systems. They need to make medium-term decisions concerning policy or changes within the company, and they need to make long-term plans for the future, involving decisions designed to keep the organisation business-focussed and forward looking.
Practical Decision-making Skills for Managers is an ideal activity pack for any trainer, whether experienced or new to the role.
The activities in this pack are:
- Easy to apply and deliver - all the activities are tried and tested and are laid out in an easy to use format, saving the trainer time and effort.
- Versatile - this pack could be used on a specific decision-making programme or integrated into courses on topics such as:
- General management
- Communication
- Team working
- Delegation
- Change management
List of Activities:
1: The decision-making process
This activity offers participants the opportunity to consider their own personal process of decision making and to reflect on those of other participants. They then consider the importance of key steps in the process
2: Decision-making styles
An activity in which participants are guided through the different styles of decision making, ranging from participative to autocratic. They then complete a self-assessment questionnaire and consider the appropriateness of each style.
3: Group versus individual decision making
Participants look at the advantages and disadvantages of groups, rather than individuals, making decisions. A practical exercise enables them to see the concept of synergy in action and to examine ways of using this in groups.
4: Decision making in groups
Why do we make decisions in groups? Participants explore this question before going on to work on a case study that challenges them to come up with a group decision.
5: Using your team
This activity explores the role of the team as a whole in the decision-making process. How can you identify key team members to assist, for example, in gathering information, or suggesting solutions?
6: Blocks to effective decision making
Managers can experience mental and emotional blocks to effective decision making. In this activity participants are encouraged to look at contributing factors such as a lack of confidence in their decision making and fear of failure.
7: Changing the mind-set
Participants explore how the mind is pre-programmed and how this affects effective decision making. They then look at ways of freeing the mind to make a decision avoiding undue influence by previous experience.
8: Delegating decision making to others
This activity looks at how to empower others to make decisions by using delegation techniques. It will enable participants to decide when it may be appropriate to use these techniques.
9: The place of intuition in decision making
Participants examine the place of intuition in decision making, looking at the consequences of both intuitive and logical decision making. They then evaluate the appropriateness of both methods.
10: Exploring options
In every situation, there are often several possible courses of action, that is decisions to make, and this activity looks at ways of exploring these alternatives. Participants are given an opportunity to experience techniques to assist this process.
11: Resisting pressure from others
This activity analyses the effects of pressure from others (often senior managers) on decision making. It presents ways of dealing with these pressures so that time and consideration can be used in reaching a good decision.
12: Techniques to aid decision making
Three creative techniques are explored in this activity to show participants how they can open up the decision-making process when it is stuck. The participants go on to practise the three techniques, applying them to a given scenario.
13: Expanding your range of decision-making techniques
Participants are introduced to three decision-making techniques in order to extend the number of such tools at their disposal. They then have an opportunity to practise the techniques before discussing and analysing their effectiveness.
14: Decision making as part of problem solving
Managers are continually having to solve problems. This activity explores the part decision making plays in the problem-solving process and looks at the process as a whole.
15: When to refer the decision on
Sometimes managers are expected to make a decision when the responsibility isn’t really theirs or they simply do not have enough information to make a good decision. In this activity, participants examine these issues and are presented with a model that managers can use in this situation.
16: Planning and evaluating decisions
Once you have made a decision, how do you implement it and check to see if it was the best you could have made in the circumstances? This activity explores this issue to assist managers in implementing and evaluating the decisions they make.
17: Decision simplification techniques
In this activity, participants are encouraged to look at the pros and cons of various techniques that can be used to simplify the decision-making process.
18: Ethical decision making
This activity looks at the idea of personal and corporate values and the possible areas of conflict that may arise from these in everyday decision making. Participants work on a case study to highlight these dilemmas and explore the values held by their own organisations.
19: Decision making in response to change
Organisations that are under pressure because they are undergoing a change process, may find decision making more challenging than usual. This activity explores the issue as participants look at ways the process of change affects people’s ability to make sound decisions and methods for handling this.
318 pages, with 119 OK to copy pages.
