10 Notes to Help Make Your Decision-Making Skills the Best They Can Be

By: Keith Krach

As an entrepreneur, you’ll often face tough decisions, in addition to the many small ones that make up a typical day. A number of experienced entrepreneurs and executives have written on the topic of decision-making, with the consensus being that it is a skill that can definitely be learned. If decision-making is new to you, here are a few insights culled from their collective wisdom:

1. Know that decisiveness is part of the job description.

Making decisions is what an entrepreneur does, and it’s essential that you are able to come to speedy and productive ones, at that. It can be particularly useful to cultivate your entire executive team’s decision-making abilities and hold each member accountable to offer their thoughts on a potential decision. Leaders who work to develop a culture of conscious problem-solving and seek ways to build stakeholder buy-in are better able to further their long-term strategic plans.

2. Figure out your decision-making style.

Some experts in the field categorize several different styles when it comes to decision-making. For example, some entrepreneurs focus on gathering large amounts of data and deciding based largely or entirely on the numbers. Others base their decisions on emotion, or their “gut” feelings.

A number of entrepreneurs would rather decide collectively, democratically assembling opinions and insights from a wide range of stakeholders before deciding on a final course of action. Still others draw up detailed lists of the pros and cons of any decision before they decide on which side to place their bets.

3. Trust your ability to delegate decisions.

As a CEO, you should be focusing on major strategic decisions, such as the composition of your team and the distribution of your resources. But you should not be wasting your time making every minute, day-to-day decision. Believe in your ability to select people who can think their way through to solutions that further your business goals, and provide them with the authority to do so.

4. Don’t waste time.

Many experts advise entrepreneurs to become comfortable about handing down decisions based on the best data they have at the moment, rather than risk missing a crucial window of time by trying to fill in every blank. You can lose any forward motion you’ve gained by delaying too long. Remember that most of today’s successful leaders are used to operating with limited intelligence most of the time.

5. Test your conclusions.

There’s no better way to make sure your pending decision is sound than to try to poke as many holes in it as you can.

Try appointing one member of your team as a devil’s advocate. Require him or her to apply high-level critical thinking and analytical skills to the job of picking apart your best arguments for a course of action. This person should be helping you weigh and test any critical or large-scale operational decisions before you finalize them. Try to work together to figure out any secondary or tertiary effects of a possible decision.

6. Reverse course when necessary.

If you discover you’ve made a bad decision, you’re not alone — a number of experienced entrepreneurs readily admit to having cut corners on due diligence, skipped necessary paperwork, and refused offers they should have accepted. Once you make the discovery, don’t wait to get back on course as soon as you can to cut your losses and guard your reputation.

7. Communicate to your employees.

Make sure to keep your team in the loop about important decisions that affect the way all of you do business. Explain not only the substance of new decisions, but your reasoning behind the choices you made. When your employees understand the “why,” it makes it easier for them to buy in to your ideas and contribute new insights to your projects.

8. Boost your team.

Whenever a potential decision is not time-sensitive or vital to your core mission, try to build consensus among your team. Refrain from overruling decisions by team members who make them in keeping with your overall vision and goals (in which case, their decisions will most likely be close to the mark anyway). Just keep in mind that, as a leader, there will be times when you must overrule your team’s preferences, and when you do, make sure to outline your reasons why.

If your team’s plan sounds like the best one to you, make sure to award them credit when it succeeds, and to stand by them should it fail.

9. Prepare for the worst.

After you’ve gone over the potential risks and pitfalls of a decision, take some time to picture the worst outcome that could possibly happen once you make it. Understanding your exposure to any negative consequences can help you gauge whether a certain course is worth your while or not.

10. Put your ego aside.

This may be one of the hardest things for an entrepreneur to do, since starting a business necessarily requires a high level of self-confidence and belief in one’s own ideas. But you must realize that by tying your decisions too closely to your emotions and ego you run the risk of losing perspective and objectivity. Stay focused on facts rather than your personal investment in any one particular outcome.