“We have meeting after meeting where we discuss the same things, we update, share our opinions, share about the research we did, decide what will be the most important KPI’s in this decision and schedule the next meeting. What is going on? We are already 6 months late from the plan. How can I cause others to make decisions faster?” asking me, one of my coaches.
Waiting too long to make decisions can slow businesses down, frustrate employees, and mean missing critical opportunities.
Bain & Company research found that decision making effectiveness drives 95% of business performance. The UK Institute for Employment found that decision practices impact 50% of employee engagement. Your company’s decision practices have a huge impact on how your business and your employees perform.
A survey McKinsey conducted recently with more than 1,200 managers across a range of global companies gave strong signs of growing levels of frustration with broken decision-making processes, with the slow pace of decision-making deliberations, and with the uneven quality of decision-making outcomes.
61 percent say that at least ½ the time spent making them is ineffective.
The potential costs of ineffective decision making - at least 61% * 50% = 30.5% of managers' annual wages are thrown away.
We could see by the McKinsey survey the lower the decision type the lower the velocity and quality values.
What is going on when a company loves to prepare a salad and interferes with the manager in decisions that they don’t need to take or the opposite? Ineffectiveness.
What is the impact of this ineffectiveness or of slow decision making in your company:
Delayed decision-making costs money (% of managers annual wages are thrown away).
Slow decision-making leaves you vulnerable to competitors.
Successful people make decisions quickly; unsuccessful ones make them slowly. (After studying 500 millionaires, journalist Napoleon Hill identified one common trait: they all make decisions quickly.)
Slow decision-making leads to burnout (Dragging out a decision is the equivalent of mental multitasking. Your brain is constantly switching back and forth between choices, weighing its options, which leads to burnout and decreased focus).
How to make the best decision in the least amount of time?
1. Ignore your emotions and use a KPI / formula instead.
In his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, psychologist Daniel Kahneman recommends that if you’re hiring for a sales position before you interview anyone, create a list of six traits that are important to the role. As you interview candidates, give each a score on a scale of one to five on each trait.
2. Limit the time you spend on research and you 100% know when to stop researching and commit to a decision. Be present to the number of tasks you are doing at the same time and how you can be concentrated without destruction to make a decision with this project. Be your word with the time you gave to this decision - the is no limit to perfectionism.
3. Delegate decisions to the appropriate party / Make decisions at the right level.
4. Transparency improves communication.
5. Active listening gives you the ability to understand WHY, but really WHY, your colleagues think differently.
6. The decision maker is an accountable! Don’t make all the decisions and delegate all the responsibility on your team.
Good luck!