Steps In The Decisions Process
All human beings are
faced with certain situations in their everyday life, where they need to take
important decisions. However, decisions that are made without any planning have
a risk of leading to failure. To avoid such problems, it is necessary to take
decisions in an organized way. This can be done by following these 6 steps of
decision-making.
Decision-making is
usually defined as the act of making up your mind about something.
However, the process of decision-making is not as easy as it sounds. There are
certain important decisions that you have to make which can change the course
of your life. Even at a workplace, one is confronted with problems or dilemmas,
where the solutions should cater to the need of others around you. Such
decisions have to be made in a careful way, especially if it is going to affect
you monetarily, or if it is going to bring major changes in your life. Thus, it
is important to take decisions in a systematic way, so that the decision you
make has high chances of being successful. The article here discusses the 6
steps to decision-making process, that can help in clarifying certain things in
your mind before you take the final decision.
How to Make a Decision in Six Steps
- Defining the Problem: The first step
towards a decision-making process is to define the problem. Obviously,
there would be no need to make a decision without having a problem. So,
the first thing one has to do is to state the underlying problem that has
to be solved. You have to clearly state the outcome that you desire after
you have made the decision. This is a good way to start, because stating
your goals would help you in clarifying your thoughts.
- Develop Alternatives: The situation of
making a decision arises because there are many alternatives available for
it. Hence, the next step after defining the main problem would be to state
out the alternatives available for that particular situation. Here, you do
not have to restrict yourself to think about the very obvious options, rather
you can use your creative skills and come out with alternatives that may
look a little irrelevant. This is important because sometimes solutions
can come out from these out-of-the-box ideas. You would also have to do
adequate research to come up with the necessary facts that would aid in
solving the problem.
- Evaluate the Alternatives: This can
be said to be one of the most important stages of the decision-making
process. This is the stage where you have to analyze each alternative you
have come up with. You have to find out the advantages and disadvantages
of each option. This can be done as per the research you have done on that
particular alternative. At this stage, you can also filter out the options
that you think are impossible or do not serve your purpose. Rating each
option with a numerical digit would also help in the filtration process.
- Make the Decision: This is the stage
where the hard work you have put in analyzing would lead to a proper
decision. The evaluation process would help you with clearly looking at
the available options and you have to pick whichever you think is the most
applicable. You can also club some of the alternatives to come out with a
better solution instead of just picking out any one of them.
- Implement the Solution: The next
obvious step after choosing an option would be implementing the solution.
Just making the decision would not give the result one wants. Rather, you
have to carry out on the decision you have made. This is a very crucial
step because all the people involved in implementation of a solution
should know about their implications. This is very essential for the
decision to give successful results.
- Monitor your Solution: Just making a
decision and implementing it, is not the end of the decision-making
process. It is crucial to monitor your decision regularly once they are
implemented. At this stage, you have to keep a close eye on the progress
made by implementing the solutions. You may need to measure the results of
implementations against your expected standards. Monitoring of solutions
since early stage may also help you to alter your decisions, if you notice
deviation of results from your expectations.
These 6 steps to decision-making process may, at
first, seem very complicated. However, these are essential decision-making
techniques that would aid you in taking proper decisions in your personal as
well as professional life. Moreover, decision-making is an ongoing process and
will never come to a standstill.
Conclusion :
When faced with certain situations, we must make
decisions with both good and systematic so that the decisions we take can help
to success.
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