In the business world, often decisions fail because of different factors like the lack of clear best alternatives at the beginning or failing to consider some key factors in the decision-making process. To avoid this, there is a need for appropriate decision-making strategies to have a better understanding of the situation. The six-step decision-making processes have been extensively used by organizations to enable workers to make appropriate decisions in their line of duty.
One time I knew I had made a bad decision at work was when I was assigned as the project manager for one of our biggest clients in my previous company. I was so excited about the project and wanted the clients to be very pleased with our work. In really wanting to please them, I told them that the project would be complete in two weeks. I believed that the team was very capable and so we could be able to get the project done in the time that I had set. My decision to set such a timeline was very wrong since the project ended up taking four weeks to complete, and the client was not as pleased.
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Of the six steps of decision making, I believe I failed at the third step; exploring the options. This is an important step since it involves evaluating the feasibility, risks, and implications of available alternatives (Daft, 2016). Almost every decision has some amount of risk. I believe I failed to evaluate the risks involved with the alternative I chose. I realized that I should have given the client a more conservative time estimate. I understood that a client is less likely to be upset if the project timeline is clear from the beginning, but they are going to be upset if you do not deliver on your promise to them (Stiggelbout, 2015).
Clearly, my decision to give a timeline that I ultimately did not meet really upset the client. To ease their anger and make it up to them, I was forced to reduce the amount of money we were going to charge them for the project. My company, fortunately, did not incur any losses, but reducing the charges was not good either. This experience served as a great lesson to me when it comes to becoming better at managing clients’ expectations during projects I am in charge of (Goetsch, 2014). I learned to carefully follow the six steps of decision making in every work decision I make. Additionally, I learned to exercise carefulness and not rush into decisions without speaking to other members of the team who might have more experience in the issue at hand (Kourdi, 2015). This was a great lesson for me that in the next project I managed, I gave the client a four-week deadline for a project that we managed to complete in three weeks. They were very pleased with us and even recommended other clients to us.
In conclusion, it is clear that making complex decisions, especially in the business world, requires tough decision-making skills. The six steps of decision making can help provide one with the skills to make fully informed decisions, either as an individual or as part of a group. Following these steps would have enabled me to give the client a timeline that we were sure to meet.
References
Daft, R. L., & Marcic, D. (2016). Understanding management. Nelson Education.
Ferrell, O. C., & Fraedrich, J. (2015). Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases. Nelson Education.
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Kourdi, J. (2015). Business Strategy: A guide to effective decision-making. The Economist.
Stiggelbout, A. M., Pieterse, A. H., & De Haes, J. C. J. M. (2015). Shared decision making: concepts, [20]. For example, the course of nation-state building that took place in the 19th and 20th century and society militarization and warlordism are two processes that provide evidence and practice. Patient education and counseling, 98(10), 1172-1179.
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