Decision making processes.
Internet connection, digital device (smartphone, tablet or PC).
This unit will provide participants with effective decision-making processes that can be utilised to facilitate collaboration between VET providers and representatives of the business market.
LESSON:
In this unit you will be provided with both video and text information regarding effective decision- making processes and tools you can use in your networking activities with business representatives. The main objective is to support you in reaching effective decisions which can be mutually beneficial to all parties involved.
Decision making is the process of making choices by identifying a decision, gathering information, and assessing alternative resolutions.
Using a step-by-step decision-making process can help you make more deliberate, thoughtful decisions when communicating with important people, by organising relevant information and defining alternatives. This approach increases the chances that you will choose the most satisfying alternative possible that will be beneficial to both parties involved.
Step 1: Identify the decision
You realise that you need to make a decision. Try to clearly define the nature of the decision you must make. This first step is very important.
Step 2: Gather relevant information
Collect some information before you make your decision: what information is needed, the best sources of information, and how to get it. This step involves both internal and external “work”. Some information is internal: you’ll seek it through a process of self-assessment. Other information is external: you’ll find it online, in books, from other people, and from other sources.
Step 3: Identify the alternatives
As you collect information, you will probably identify several possible paths of action, or alternatives. You can also use your imagination and additional information to construct new alternatives. In this step, you will list all possible and desirable alternatives.
Step 4: Weigh the evidence
Draw on your information and emotions to imagine what it would be like if you carried out each of the alternatives to the end. Assess whether the need identified in Step 1 would be met or resolved using each alternative. As you go through this difficult internal process, you’ll begin to favour certain alternatives: those that seem to have a higher potential for reaching your goal. Finally, place the alternatives in a priority order, based upon your own value system.
Step 5: Choose among alternatives
Once you have weighed up all the evidence, you are ready to select the alternative that seems to be the best one for you. You may even choose a combination of alternatives. Your choice in Step 5 may very likely be the same or similar to the alternative you placed at the top of your list at the end of Step 4.
Step 6: Act
You’re now ready to take some positive action by beginning to implement the alternative you chose in Step 5.
Step 7: Review your decision and its consequences
In this final step, consider the
results of your decision and evaluate whether it has resolved the need you identified in Step 1. If the
decision has not met the identified need, you may want to repeat certain steps of the process
to make a new decision. For example, you might want to gather more detailed or somewhat different
information or explore additional alternatives.
Source: https://www.umassd.edu/fycm/decision-making/process/
The above steps can be used when liaising with important people in your network so that to create collaborations that can be mutually beneficial. To sum up the process, when trying to reach decisions it is important to be clear of the goal you are trying to reach. After having done your research and being open to listen to the opinion of the other parties involved in the decision-making process it is important to lay out all alternative paths and after reflecting on them decide one by one what would be most beneficial to all. Reassessing the decision at the end and at regular intervals can ensure that the decision is a best fit and can be adjusted or changed when needed.
Exercise 1:
Use any of the decision- making tools listed on the link provided under the E-learning website, for reaching decisions in your teams and then provide feedback on your experience.
Exercise 1:
Use any of the decision- making tools listed on the link provided under the E-learning website, for reaching decisions in your teams and then provide feedback on your experience.
The following resources provide important information on the subject.
Videos:
Online Articles:
- https://www.umassd.edu/fycm/decision-making/process/
- https://www.techtarget.com/searchbusinessanalytics/definition/decision-making-process
E-learning website:
Klein, G. A. (1989). Strategies of decision making. KLEIN ASSOCIATES INC YELLOW SPRINGS OH.
Nutt, P. C. (2008). Investigating the success of decision-making processes. Journal of Management Studies, 45(2), 425-455.
Slovic, P., Lichtenstein, S., & Fischhoff, B. (1988). Decision making. Wiley.
Harrison, E. F. (1996). A process perspective on strategic decision making. Management decision.