The Art of Effective Decision-Making
Adapted from: 2001 ASHP
Leadership Conference on Pharmacy Practice Management
Executive Summary:
From management to leadership: The building blocks
of professionalism. Am J Health-Syst Pharm. 2002;
59:661-5.
What makes for effective individual and organizational
decision-making? Here are some important factors:
- Fully
examining the facts and assumptions associated
with the decision,
- Exploring alternative courses of
action and carefully evaluating the short-term
and long-term consequences
of each,
- Including in the decision-making process
the people most likely to be affected by the
decision,
- Ensuring
that diverse perspectives are represented in
the process, and
- Making decisions that exemplify individuals’ or
organizations’ core values and mission.
Group development
also has implications on decision-making. Groups
progress through four predictable stages of
development, and they revisit earlier stages as the
group composition changes.
- Forming. Individuals test
relationships and explore their level of commitment
to the group. Groups at
this stage lack the capacity to make significant
decisions.
- Storming (the conflict stage). Relationships
and the power structure are challenged. The
group may
make poor decisions because of personality
issues and self-oriented behaviors. People may
go along
with decisions but not really support them.
- Norming
(the conflict-resolution stage). Members coalesce
around shared beliefs, values, and norms
that then shape individual and organizational
behavior.
- Performing (the “smoother-sailing” stage). Trust is high among group members, and individual
efforts are linked to common goals and aspirations.
Information is shared freely, and complex
decisions can be made.
Methods of group decision-making range from autocratic
or directive to leaderless. The selection of a method
should depend on (1) the group’s stage of development
and capacity for decision-making and (2) the method
that seems most appropriate for the nature of the
decision being made.
Decision-makers need to be aware of “traps”;
one example is the tendency to give disproportionate
weight to the first information received. Leaders
can help groups avoid these traps. Leaders can also
use tools such as matrixes to explore factors affecting
a decision and scales of agreement to assess the
true level of support for decisions.
Return
to Career Development Resources |
