Whatever industry you work in, and whatever USP your business widely advertises, the one skill you will always need is good judgement. You need to be able to make decisions every day that get the most out of the resources you have available, whether that’s staff, money or simply the sheer number of man hours you have on the book. You need to be able to weigh the options and know when it’s important to take on the big client that will bring in lots of revenue, and when money needs to take a back seat to quality so you can make a good impression on someone who might be really important to you in the future.
Today we’re presenting a short guide to making good decisions, so your shrewd judgement can drive your business to success.
Facts and Figures
Wherever you work, whatever you do, you don’t take your decisions in a vacuum. You will always need to account for them, whether that’s to a manager, or at higher levels to a board of directors, or your investors. If you’re changing processes that affect other employees, or pitching for a change to high ranking decision makers in the business it will help you achieve buy in if you can back up your arguments with data.
For example, if you’re looking to expand your business, using a market research firm can give you the firm data you need to make your case absolutely watertight. If you’re interested in working with a market research company, click through to find out more.
Getting Buy In
Any decision you make affects other people – once again, you don’t take your decisions in a vacuum. If your decisions are going to mean changes in the company you work for, whether you’re the CEO or simply a manager some way down the pecking order, you need to introduce your conclusions in a way that’s going to make people receptive to them rather than critical.
Presenting an outcome as a fait accompli is a sure way to create resistance. To avoid this, make sure you build a discussion stage into your decision making for major process related issues. Giving people the chance to have their voice hear, even if you think you know exactly what your solution is going to be will mean they are more open to changes when they’re enacted. Of course, they also open you up to new and interesting ideas which you may not have considered!