Decision Making: The Fundamentals

To emphasize the need of a formal decision-making process, C. Wright Mills, an American sociologist and author, once said, 'Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them – and then the opportunity to choose.' LAUNCH  RESOURCES

It's been estimated that most human beings make thousands of decisions in the course of an average day, many of which are unconscious decisions. It is important for your personal and professional success that you become an effective decision maker. This involves following an established decision-making process and adapting your decision-making style to suit different situations. This course introduces you to the fundamentals of decision making and illustrates techniques to help you become an effective decision maker. The course first walks you through the steps of a widely accepted decision-making process. Then it leads to a description of the factors influencing your decision-making style and shows how to adapt that style to suit a given situation. So you'll have everything you need to start on the road to becoming an effective decision maker. Materials designed to support blended learning activities aligned with this course are available from the Resources Page. 1 hour. LAUNCH

Resources

Access these resources on your smartphone, tablet, or PC, when and where you need it.

SkillBriefs. Brief summaries of the key points of the course.

• Effective Decision-making Basics. Discover the basics of effective decision making.
• Decision-making Styles. Explore different styles of effective decision making.
• Adapting Decision-making Styles. Learn to adapt your decision-making style.

Job Aids. Tools for applying course concepts.

• The Decision-making Model. Use this job aid as a reminder of the five steps in the decision-making model.
• The Four Decision-making Styles. Use this job aid to review the characteristics of the four decision-making styles.
• Influential Factors in Decision Making. Use this job aid to review the factors that influence your choice of decision-making style in a given situation.

Follow-on Activities. Activities for practicing skills.

• Decision-making Styles of Individuals. Use this follow-on activity to assess different decision-making styles in your organization.

Presentation and Facilitation Guide. PowerPoint deck presenting the core content of the course. Can be used for personal study or team training.