In everyday life, people have generally learned simple “tricks” that can lead to quick decisions. These tricks may work fine for appropriate decisions such as choosing clothes or shopping. However, when decisions involve multiple goals, decision-makers tend to avoid or forget the consideration of these goals. However, this balancing is important when making a decision that involves multiple departments or when a decision involves multiple chain partners.
Many managers and executives have difficulty making decisions. Of all newly appointed managers, 57% report that they find making decisions more difficult and complicated than they expected (HBR, 2018). This method will help you with:
- Making a decision in which you want to weigh multiple choices against multiple factors (or aspects);
- Weighing different interests against each other;
- Quantifying aspects that influence the decision;
- Making the most objective choice.
What added value can SDM bring to your organization?
The tool enables you to integrally weigh divergent goals and visions in order to facilitate a supported decision. This is of great added value for many companies and their (chain) partners because it increases support for the decision. The method shows the most logical (joint) choice when all partners act consistently with the agreed valuations. In addition, one gets an integral insight into the decision because the method shows the dials that can be turned and which lead to the final decision. The group is forced to put time and energy into the decision and is thus encouraged to think more deeply about the problem. This causes one to develop explicit and defensible reasoning based on facts and thus makes it easier to explain and justify why the chosen route is the best one. After all, a quality decision is not enough to get your (chain) partners or organization on board. You use this explicit and defensible reasoning to build support among your stakeholders and inform them so that they are more likely to understand and accept the reasoning behind the decision.
How can Supply Value help make decisions?
We can help you make informed (strategic) decisions. We support you in the entire process from preparation to creating support for the decision taken. This process consists of the following steps:
- Determining options.
The first step in the process is to identify all options. This could be, for example, all the possible IT systems a government agency can choose from, or the choice between different possible branch locations for a healthcare agency. It often happens that huge amounts of options exist, requiring research to determine which ones are among the real possibilities. Supply Value can take on this research in order to arrive at an agreed-upon number of (objective) choices. - Determining the optimal choice
We help you create a complete, but workable, overview of all factors that influence the choice in question. With the help of a Value Tree, all factors and their interrelationships are clarified. We start by defining the higher goal: what is it that we want to achieve with this choice? From that higher goal, we determine all factors of influence, as well as the weight and value per option. Using a mathematical model, we then arrive at a conditional decision. - Sensitivity analysis
To strengthen this conditional decision and to remove any objections from (fellow) decision-makers, we perform a sensitivity analysis. This sensitivity analysis makes it possible to weigh the various interests against each other. The question this answers is whether the weighting of a particular interest influences the final choice. By weighing the different interests and comparing the corresponding outcomes with the conditional decision, we provide insight into the influence of interests on the final outcome. In doing so, we ensure broad support and ensure that all interests are represented. - Support
The effect of a choice depends on Maier’s Law. He stated that the effectiveness of a change is the result of the sum of quality (1) and acceptance (2). This means in this case that the choice can be as good as it is, if the organization does not accept the choice, the effect will not be high. We help you create acceptance among your employees. This tool is a first step towards creating acceptance in your organization when making important decisions. We realize that this is only the beginning. Good communication tools and change management methodologies can help.
Download our method “Making broad-based decisions with Strategic Decision Making (SDM)” below.
