Approving / Rejecting a Customer Request | Approving a Budget |
Assigning Work | Awarding / Recognizing Employees |
Canceling a Failed Project | Changing a Policy |
Choosing a Retail Location | Choosing an Office Location |
Clearing Issues | Composing a Communication to Stakeholders |
Crafting a Brand Identity | Crafting a Strategy |
Criticizing an Employee | Designing a Process |
Designing a Product | Designing a Role |
Designing an Office Environment | Financing / Refinancing a Small Business |
Framing a Message to Investors | Giving Employee's Feedback |
Hiring an Employee | Implementing an Internal Control |
Initiating a Project | Positioning a Product |
Restructuring | Retrenchment |
Reviewing Employee Requests | Setting Team Goals |
Solving Problems | Structuring Compensation |
Structuring Measurements & Metrics | Structuring Reports |
Structuring Sales Incentives | Structuring an Organization |
Taking on an Action Item | Terminating an Employee |
Delegation
Delegation is the practice of empowering employees to delivery objectives and make certain decisions.A hotel manager delegates customer service decisions to front desk staff. The acting front desk manager decides to deny a customer demand for a free upgrade as they view the request as unreasonable. The customer escalates to the hotel manager who supports the front desk team by not undermining the decision.
Indecision
In the context of an organization, decisions always belong to someone whereby they ultimately belong to the head manager of the organization such as a CEO. Where decisions aren't made, an organization may be dysfunctional and inefficient.A product has poor reviews and generates negative publicity that is damaging a valuable brand. The product management team talks about the problem over the course of months and years but never arrives at any decision to address the situation.
Do Nothing Strategy
A do nothing strategy is an active decision to do nothing. This can be a reasonable choice that shouldn't be confused with indecision.A software team discusses a competitive threat due to new features in a competitor's product. The product manager feels that customers will find the feature annoying such that the best competitive response is to do nothing (i.e. not respond with a similar feature).
Decision Modeling
Decision modeling is the process of formally defining a problem, decision criteria and alternatives. The final decision is documented as a decision rationale.A restaurant is planning a new location. They list 8 criteria for the new location. Analysis is performed that evalutes 2400 locations against these criteria. The business development manager is presented with a short list and makes the final decision by personally visiting each location to get a feel for each.
Abilene Paradox
The abilene paradox is the tendency for groups to make consensus decisions that all members of the group view as irrational. This occurs as a decision reflects the dynamics of a conversation that can include elements such as groupthink, compromise and political competition that don't tend towards logical outcomes.The operations team of a shopping mall has a meeting to discuss how to respond to a local health outbreak. They decide to close half of the parking spaces and half of the bathrooms at the mall. No single member of the meeting can explain why the decision makes any sense. A decision rationale is issued but uses vague language that doesn't capture any actual reason for the decision.
Accountability
Accountability is the principle that a single individual is responsible for the outcome of a decision or strategy.The manager of a hotel is asked to explain why safety incidents continue to occur when they have been tasked with reducing them. The manager points to the decisions of a "safety committee" in an attempt to avoid accountability.
Consultative Decision
A consultative decision is the practice of making the decisions you are responsible for by asking for advice from experts and stakeholders.A mayor of a city has committed to improve local quality of life. They consult urban planners, budget committees and community members to form a plan to make some streets nearly car free.
