Project Materials

Improve Your Decision-Making Skills

The last thing you want to do is to make a decision that eventually goes wrong, especially if it is a very important one. The need to make right decisions every time people are confronted with options make the decision process quite tasking when it comes to major decisions. How can you make decisions quick enough and how can you be more accurate in making the right choice? Even a person doing something bad does not want to make a wrong decision that will cost him some consequences. It only serves to explain how everyone is keen on being correct with options. Situations can be very puzzling, and you can’t always be sure to make the right choices, but you can increase your chances of making right decisions with the tips below. You should try to focus more on the process involved in decision-making than in the decision itself. The decision is as good as the process involved in making it. These tips can serve to improve your skills.

Consider the Pros and the Cons

One obvious thing you should do when in the process of decision-making is to consider the benefits and consequences involved, the advantages and disadvantages. If it is a major decision you may want to list out the pros and cons and compare them to see if making that decision is good enough for you. For example, if you are considering whether to buy a phone or not with the money you have  at hand, then you should consider the advantages of buying it and what it will cost you if you buy it, weigh both on a scale very well, before deciding.

Reduce Your Options

Having too many options to choose from can make the decision process very daunting. Having only one option to choose from, no decision is needed, two or three options leaves you with a decision to make, but when having too many options you will need to first narrow down your choices first before embarking on the decision-making process. Eliminate as many options as you can and then decide on which of the options left is most important to you.

Carry Out a Good Research

It is important to have as much information and knowledge as you need about something before making any decision about it. When you have more information at your fingertips, then you can make better choice. For example if you want to go for a particular product and you don’t know which brand you should go for, or what price falls within what you can afford, checking online for information about the various types of that product including the prices and you’ll easily be able to pick which one is best for you. You could also read reviews about products to know if they are really good.

Avoid Impulsive Decisions

If you are prone to making impulsive decisions, then you might find yourself taking decisions without really thinking and such decisions could be too hasty and wrong eventually. So giving yourself more time to think about the decision is not a bad idea. This will help you to ease the momentary pressure or emotion that might push you to act without thinking, so that you can probably sleep over the matter, seek counsel and observe turn of events more before deciding. If eventually you still have to go for whatever decision it is, it won’t be out of impulsiveness, but it would have been well thought, and there will be less chances of wrong choices. Avoid impulsive decisions especially when it comes to important decisions.

Keep Your Ego and Emotions Under Check

Avoid making hasty decisions just to feed your ego or make you feel high unnecessarily. Don’t make a choice because all your friends are making the same choice. Maybe they are all buying a particular thing and you begin to feel like you need to buy also so you can feel among, why not first ask yourself about how important that item is to you. Also avoid making decisions when your emotions are too high, either you are too happy, too sad, too angry, or too engrossed, that is not the best time to make an important decision, because your emotions can easily influence you in such case. Wait till a time when you are balanced and steady.

Seek Professional Advice

When decisions you have to make require professional guidance and advice, then ensure you get the advice before deciding. Be it medical, legal, business, family or financial matters, try to get expert advice when necessary. This will go a long way to guide you in making the right decision in such matters. Don’t underestimate professional or expert advice, ensure that you comply with relevant guidance.

Don’t Be Too Sure of Your Decision

After settling for a particular option, still try to make the room for the possibility of the choice being wrong. Ask yourself, what if this decision turns out to be wrong? Assuming this choice goes wrong, what can be done? Then try to think of a plan B or remedial means. The decision may turn out to be perfect in which case you have nothing to lose, but if the choice goes wrong, you’d have on ground already a remedial system to salvage the situation. Knowing that you have a remedial system in place should in case your decision goes wrong can make you more confident and relaxed about the decisions you make.

Take Experience into Cognisance

When wanting to make a decision, try learning from the past. If it is a situation that you have been faced with before, think back to learn from your past experience with the decisions you made in such situations previously. If you made the wrong decisions before, now you likely know which options to be more careful with. Good choices made previously in similar situations can serve to guide you presently. But be careful not to be too dependent on past experiences, as situations could have changed in some ways. Just use your past decisions as guide where applicable.

Consider the Feasibility

Be sure that what you are going for is something feasible and achievable. Be realistic about what you subscribe to.

Master How to Deal with Pressure

Train yourself to know how to resist unnecessary or necessary pressure. Don’t allow pressure from other people push you into making choices thoughtlessly or out of fear. If for example, you are at the market checking out an item, the seller may be trying to work on you to buy the item but if you are not convinced you should buy it at that moment, you must know how to handle and overcome the pressure coming from the seller. You should learn to say no to proposals when you are not interested, don’t say yes out of pressure or fear.

Ask Someone Who is Not Directly Involved

Involving a person who is more experienced but not as emotional, excited, optimistic, pessimistic or carried away as you are about the matter you want to decide on can be helpful.

Consider the Implications in the Short Run and in the Long Run

Consider the decision you are trying to make in light of what the implications will be positively and negatively in the short term and long-term, weigh the implications and decide on what is best.