Tools & References
Decision making techniques
Decision making also relies on a thorough knowledge of a variety of techniques and processes. Depending on the type and the complexity level of the problem to be addressed managers can choose from a variety of decision making techniques in order to choose the most optimal solution.
Paired comparison analysis:
Decision Matrix Analysis:
Decision Tree:
De Bono's Six Thinking Hats:
Paired comparison analysis:
- useful for weighing up the relative importance of different options;
- helpful where priorities aren't clear, where the options are completely different, where evaluation criteria are subjective, or where they're competing in importance;
- provides a framework for comparing each option against all others, and helps to show the difference in importance between factors
Decision Matrix Analysis:
- helps to decide between several options, where you need to take many different factors into account
Decision Tree:
- clearly lays out the problem so that all options can be challenged;
- allows us to analyze fully the possible consequences of a decision;
- provides a framework to quantify the values of outcomes and the probabilities of achieving them;
- helps to make the best decisions based on existing information and best guesses
De Bono's Six Thinking Hats:
- for looking at a problem from different points of view;
- allows emotion and skepticism to be brought into what might normally be a purely rational process, and it opens up the opportunity for creativity within decision making;
- can help to avoid possible pitfalls before being committed to a decision