Develop effective decision-making and problem-solving skills to address challenges and make impactful choices.
This two-day course is designed for managers, supervisors, team leaders, members of any group, and individuals who engage in decision-making and problem-solving processes. Learn how to make thorough, impactful decisions and resolve problems constructively using the strategies in this course.
Target Audience
This course is ideal for managers, supervisors, team leaders, and any individuals involved in decision-making and problem-solving processes. It is particularly beneficial for those looking to enhance their ability to make thorough and impactful decisions while resolving problems constructively.
What You'll Learn at a Glance
- Promote inquiry as a productive communication mode.
- Improve the quality of decision-making of your group and in your organization.
- Use tools to obtain the data required to solve problems and support decisions.
- Manage Groupthink.
- Understand and effectively manage the traps of decision-making.
Course Syllabus
Module 1: Environmental Considerations
- Define decision making vs. problem solving, how the two processes interweave, and why organizational climate and stakeholder perceptions matter.
- Compare individual and group decision making; consider styles and preferences (e.g., left/right-brain thinking and Vroom–Yetton management decision styles) and map key stakeholders and communications.
- Spot and prevent groupthink; run effective meetings; use questioning and facilitation techniques to surface assumptions and views.
- Apply ethics to choices—core values, quick self-tests (law, harm, newspaper, child, smell), major ethical frameworks, and the PLUS filter.
Module 2: The Process
- Follow an eight-step method: define the problem; set vision/objectives; generate options; assess merits; set strategy; decide; build an action plan; evaluate outcomes.
- Use practical tools for Steps 1–4: problem statements, Five Whys, visioning and SMART(S) objectives, brainstorming and cause-and-effect, criteria tables and force-field analysis.
- Plan strategy and assess risk (likelihood, impact, tolerance), and watch for hidden decision traps (status quo bias, anchoring, echo chambers, framing, and “hostage to the past”).
- Make and socialize the decision with Vroom–Yetton questions and tools such as multi-voting, consensus, and weighted “merits matrix”; recognize information-processing styles with DecideX.
- Execute through planning tables and mind maps; communicate progress; close with outcome evaluation, lessons learned, and a formal close-out report.
