Some of us find it easy. Most tend to procrastinate when it comes to making those important decisions.

We all know someone who appears to be adept at making every decision a correct decision. Even when they are under immense pressure, they appear to calmly go about gathering information, speaking to people and making the right decision time after time. They also make decisions that stick and resolve the problem going forward. So not fair. How do they do that?

To top it all, these people are capable of confidently defending their decisions against some very negative and forceful opposition. Are they are made of the right stuff and we aren’t?

Don’t be shocked at all to learn that you can make a decision and be confident that you made the right choice. All you need to do is follow a process to reach the correct decision.

Here are ten tips to help you to arrive at the best decision/choice to resolve an issue at the office or at home.

• A decision made is the result of making the best available choice from a collection of available facts. Always have alternative choices at hand to compare against the one you already favour.
• At the outset of the decision-making process, the decision point, you need to absolutely trust your abilities to arrive at a decision that will resolve the problem(s). You need to be able to trust your experience and put faith in your skills to arrive at the correct decision. Don’t be too proud to speak to others to help resolve doubts about the facts and data provided.
• Never fail to include stakeholders who will be impacted by the decision you need to make. Connect and engage with them properly and get their commitment to provide inputs to resolving the issue. Do not ever be dictatorial when it comes to making a decision that will affect a person’s livelihood or the manner in which they will carry out their job at your business.
• Put pen to paper. Writing down facts and options assists you to select solutions that will lead you to making the best decision based on your notes and any other available and relevent data. Often the solution will leap out at you from your notes. So always make notes. You also may find yourself wanting to refer to these notes at some later date.
• List the positives and negatives. One column for the positives and a second column for the negatives. Discuss each item in both columns as fully as possible with colleagues and peers. More options from these discussions will arise too. Talking over the pros and cons helps to eliminate the weaker options and reveal the strongest choices to help you in making your decision.
• When it comes to making decisions, do not try to be a juggler. Focus on a single problem and resolve it. Only then should you move on to the next issue. Keep your head clear of other issues while dealing with the current matter. This permits you to fully focus your energy and mind on resolving the current problem. Applying the same approach to each issue requires all your focus, so don’t try to be a hero. Too many decisions at a time will lead to a wrong decision being made. And possibly a catastrophic one at that.
• Before announcing your decision, take all the time you need to review it and the elements used to arrive at your choice. Allow for some time to go through your checklist to ensure that you were provided with all the facts and salient material to help you reach a correct decision. Doing this gives you a chance to revise the decision if any fact or data now appears to not be correct but used by you in error. A mistake cannot be corrected once you announce your decision so use this time to make 100% certain the decision is based on correct information.
• The only quick decisions you should ever make are those that can be reversed with minimum or any impact. All difficult decisions need to be assessed factually,thoroughly, correctly and a logical solution selected from among those available to you.
• Stand by the decision you make. You simply cannot vascilate and change your mind. This is seen as a weakness and one that will be exploited to the full by others. Once you decide on the best possible solution, stick to that option. Be prepared to defend it too.
• You need to be strong and not regret the choice you made. Acting in hindsight is often the action of an indecisive mind. Support your decision against all objections. Every decision made may not be a popular and can carry consequences. You will be provided the option to manage any consequences as and when they happen. So there is little point in worrying about that now. Having made the decision based on the best options and facts available at the time, do not falter in your defense of the decision you made.

SUMMARY• Review all the facts, outcomes and alternative options thoroughly before you make a decision.
• After you review the facts, possible outcomes and alternative solutions, allow yourself time to think about them all before arriving at a final conclusion.
• Always base your decisions on what is the right thing to do. Right for you, right for your customer and right for the business.
• Remember to always look at the objective of the decision, the alternatives to the decision, the risks of the alternatives to the decision and also analyse the outcomes that will occur.

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