16 Key Steps to your better Small Business Decision Making
STEPS:1) Inclusive, 2) Clarify & Simplify, 3) Customer is King, 4) Steps, 5) Strategic Alignment, 6) Right Staff Guidance, 7) use AI Analytics, 8) use Emotion Intell,
9) Learn fm past, 10) Feedback, 11) Diverse Perspectives, 12) Get Input fm Multiple Depts, 13) Personal Biases, 14) Clean & Lean, 15) Dispel Decisions, 16) lower Ego.
Intro: Small Businesses are in an unenviable position of needing to be right about most of their decisions. Even the smallest choices they make, can significantly impact their ability to compete. Making the wrong decisions can lead to fallout in several ways, from financial hardship to losing vast numbers of their workforce.
Because of the factors affecting each decision, it’s easier for businesses to outline the choices they make that aren’t critical as opposed to those that are. How does a business make better decisions then? To help, these 16 members of Forbes Business Development Council share some of the key steps a company should take to improve its decision-making process.
1. Be Inclusive
Decision making is only as good as its speed and inclusion. There is always a desire for the fastest speed and highest quality, and you as a leader must recognize they regularly conflict with one another. When making a decision as a team or individual, ensure that the absolute critical intention and stakeholders are defined and agreed upon, then choose for your role to actively remove barriers. “Perfect” decisions are the enemy of innovation and progress.
2. Clarify & Simplify The Problem
Clarify and simplify the problem your decision will solve, who it will impact and how. Making decisions involves making choices and making choices will result in trade-offs. The clearer you are with the problem you seek to solve, its trade-offs and how you manage them, the better your decision. In a world of uncertainties, a good decision is better than the best decision.
3. Put your Customer at the Center of the Decision.
Business leaders should develop a deep understanding of their customers. You need to develop an understanding of their motivations, desires, processes and organizational dynamics. Grounding your beliefs, mission and purpose to align with your customer is the core of what creates a successful business. This is not a task to be outsourced or assigned to the team. You need to own it.
4. Follow These Four Steps
There are a few important steps to take. First, 1) know what the issue is or the problem you are trying to solve. Then 2) determine who is the decision maker and consider things like expertise, data access, level of impact or influence and urgency. 3) Calibrate your decision making to fit the decision type, from a one person decision model all the way to company consensus . Finally, 4) write down the decision and communicate it.
5. Embrace Strategic Alignment
Embrace strategic alignment in your decision-making processes. Strategic alignment ensures that everyone in the organization understands how their work, their goals and objectives support, then promote the objectives of the whole organization and the culture of the company. Help team members see how their decisions can impact the company as a whole.
6. Provide The Right Guidance for Staff
Leaders can promote ongoing research & training and for their staff. Gather info to allow for options and set a deadline. Always evaluate the consequences of the decision. Be confident about your decision and avoid making decisions based on emotions.
7. Use AI-Driven Data Analytics
AI-driven data analytics platforms allow enterprises to convert data into actionable insights. Such platforms allow organizations to analyze different data sets and raise further questions based on initial inferences to convert intelligence into actionable business insights for better decision making. Data and analytics-driven decision-making culture is of paramount importance.
8. Leverage Emotional Intelligence
Business leaders should understand the significance of emotional intelligence [EQ] in driving business decisions. Not only should 16 Key Steps to better Small Business Decision Making leaders have high EQ, but they should enable their teams to disarm affect-driven bias, identify those with lower EQ and help understand the root cause(s) of the emotions that are impacting their decision-making capabilities.
9. Learn from Past Situations
Learning from past situations can help leaders make better decisions moving forward. Leaders can look at how their peers approached unique situations, then use those lessons to build adaptive and resilient strategies into their roadmaps. During times of success, crisis and the in-between, leaders should always be planning and preparing for the best possible outcome for their business.
10. Ask for Feedback
Ask for feedback. If you want to improve your decision making, ask for advice from people who know you well and whose insights you trust. Seek the counsel of mentors, close associates and those familiar with your decision-making process who are capable of providing informed feedback. Ask, listen and learn.
11. Seek Out Diverse Perspectives
Seek out diverse perspectives on the decision, especially from the people the decision impacts. Make sure that you get a broad set of input and have your perspective challenged. Create a sense of psychological safety (where there aren’t negative repercussions to your team speaking honestly) and ask people from multiple levels of your organization—not just your peers or leadership team. –
12. Get Input rom Multiple Departments
Create a cross-functional department roundtable. When making key decisions, it is important to get feedback from multiple departments. Having key individuals from different departments participate in a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunity & Threats) or an open forum can help make better decisions.
13. Understand your Personal Biases
Firstly, It’s important to understand your personal biases and blind spots so that you have the most complete picture. Secondly, you have to fail fast. Our tendency is to hold onto a bad decision -escalation of commitment – but if you can change course quickly, you will minimize the impact of a bad decision and free up time to focus energy on more productive activities.
14. Create Quick & Lean Experiments
Experimentation is key. Creating quick, clean & lean experiments can provide the business with countless data points for making better decisions. This can include rapid testing of market interest in a product, validating marketing directions, pricing and more. Such experimentation is extremely easy to create and will ensure data-driven decisions in the most effective way possible.
15. Take Emotions out of your Decision
Emotions can lead to a bad decision. To take emotions out of the decision, collaborate with the vendor on a financial business case. Include the predicted benefits (backed by case studies and analyst validation) and all aspects of the investment. If you can negotiate a guarantee against the costs and benefits, even better. At the very least, you have a baseline against which to measure business outcomes.
16. Suppress your Ego
A leader is only as good as the team around them. Wrong decisions with serious consequences can be mitigated by tapping into the talent around you. Ensure you are allowing team members to openly voice their opinions and ideas. Encourage them to share data and play devil’s advocate. Collaboration is a wonderful tool when utilized properly.
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*Forbes Business Development Council:
Senior-level sales & biz development executives share firsthand insights. 6/25