Making decisions is at the core of business life. From forming business partnerships and hiring employees down to moving to a bigger office, you always have to choose. What’s challenging about decisions is that they’re defining moments for the organization. They can make or break success. That’s why it’s always important to be cautious when dealing with crossroads in the business. One way to do that is to know the kind of decision-maker you are. Knowing that will inform you of your strengths and potential blind spots. Below are the kinds of decision-makers:
The Opinion Gatherer
This entrepreneur intuitively asks people for their opinions on the matter. They call a meeting to vote for a decision. It’s more of a democratic-like setup. What’s good about this kind of decision-making is that it gets the employees on board right off the bat. If you’re embarking on a big change, that sense of ownership from your team is important to achieve your goal.
What’s less pleasant in this situation, however, is the fact that when there are too many voices in your decisions — some of which differing from one another — it can be a struggle to arrive at a choice. In these instances, you go back to your business’ goals and philosophy, which could help in settling the dilemma.
The Data Junkie
This is the type of businessp erson who decides based on hard facts. For instance, when presented with a pizza franchising opportunity, they look at the numbers, research, case studies, etc. The good thing about this type of decision-making is that you get the real, raw picture of what’s happening in the industry, your company, or any business-related matter. It’s not just based on hearsay or subjectivity. You’re able to plan for action steps based on the real thing.
The downside, however, is that it takes time to gather information sometimes. You just don’t have that kind of luxury in some decisions. Many situations call for quick, snappy judgments. What you can do here is to educate yourself always. With your mind filled up with knowledge, you can easily pull up the information you need in defining decision moments.
The Gut-feeler
Unlike the data junkie, the gut-feeler is very comfortable making fast decisions. What they do is that they just follow their gut feeling. They have little concern about risks, and they’re very confident to move forward. Now, a lot of people look down on this kind of decision-making because it’s obvious that it could be easily swayed by emotions. That’s damaging to the business, especially financially.
But it’s not all bad for the gut-feeler. The gut feeling they base their decisions on usually comes from past experiences. They encountered this similar kind of crossroad before, and they saw what happened when they chose this or that. If you’re this kind of decision-maker, just be very careful in checking emotions. Draw inspirations from your previous experiences, but make sure to calculate risks smartly.
Smart decision-making is a skill every entrepreneur must have. For you to secure that, be aware of the way you decide. Harness the strengths, but beware of the weaknesses.
