Description:

This one-day course covers an important business skill. Making decisions is an essential management role, getting them right in an essential survival role.

Many believe that any decision is better than no decision, that somehow this unlocks the situation and allows the work processes to continue to flow. They may be right, but what is clearly evident is that making the right decision would be better. There is seldom only one correct solution to a problem; there are usually many solutions, all of which have a cost and a consequence. Making any decision commits the business to that cost and consequence. Sometimes a decision may be more costly but has a better consequence and sometimes no decision is the right decision.

This one-day course is intended to provide suitable tools to make the right decision in all important cases and better decisions generally by considering the issues and weighing them all in an excellence competition. Many will say they have no time, but that is another skill. Most businesses prosper from one or two excellent decisions; whether they were made quickly or over time is a question of luck over judgment. Judgment is more reliable.

The acronym SMART has many meanings today but the one adopted for this course is Small Multi Attribute Review Technique. A simple but disciplined approach to business decision making which has proved its worth many times.

The course will work through the SMART process and provide exercises to practise the learning and develop the skills. It will consider many decisions and analyse the thinking at the time in order to confirm the process and the limitations of rushed decisions. Business is constantly changing just to keep up and it is crucial that decisions have been reached in a structured way so that the change can be continued confidently, leading ultimately to the goals anticipated.

Making SMART decisions is vital in this challenging global economy where opportunities abound for those who can see them.

An Attendance Certificate will be provided at the end of this skill course.

Vital Benefits:

Making SMART decisions leads to opportunities not otherwise available. In this constantly changing world, business makes a continuous string of decisions on all matters. Success of the business will be measured by the decisions taken and those opportunities lost. But the metrics of both are lost if decisions are unstructured and unsound. Good decision making can easily become a habit if we persist. This course provides the following vital benefits:

• A clear understanding of the SMART decision making process
• An ability to identify all the options and think out of the box
• An ability to prioritise the essential options under the current conditions
• Clearly stating the solution to the choice to be made
• Understanding what is right rather than what is acceptable
• Understanding the action required to make it a decision taken

Objectives:

Whilst it may only be the executive who make important decisions, many decisions made below this level may influence a company’s success. All decisions should be treated as important. In this course, it is our objectives to provide:

• A clear understanding of the consequences of unsound decisions
• An understanding of what is not a decision
• A clear description of a process for making decisions
• An understanding of the categorisation of decisions
• A clear description of the desired outcome
• Measurement of the impact of decisions

Topics:

This course covers the following topics:

• The background of decisions
• Definition, specification, decision, action and feedback
• Decision or statement of intent
• The components of a decision
• Identification of the desired outcome and its consequences
• The behaviour indicators
• Making the decision work
• The success criteria

Who to Attend:

We would recommend the course to the following project people:

• Business leaders
• Business executives
• Business managers
• Line managers
• Those who make important decisions for the business
• Those who face the clients or customers
• Those who want to develop their business skills