Making Decisions Effectively and Efficiently, II
Project managers find that many people don’t want to make decisions. There are a number of reasons for this, and a project manager must be aware of them, so that they may best approach the reluctant decision maker. Reasons include:
• They can’t distinguish between the pros and the cons of the possible decision
• They fear making the decision and feel they do not have the authority to do so, or fear the consequence of making the
wrong decision.
• They just don’t like to make decisions and would rather be led than lead.
• They may not make a decision unless they know that it will help promote them within the organization.
Project managers must learn how to work with these reluctances. For example, if they have someone who doesn’t like to make decisions, they can lay out the process in advance and then have the decision maker create a list of questions that need to be answered and then go and seek out the answers themselves. If they are dealing with someone who is willing to make decisions only if it will help to promote them, first convince them that it will indeed help their career and that a wrong decision is not career limiting.
Written by John Livermore - Multi-site Project Management
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