We make countless daily decisions, from what to eat for breakfast to what to wear to work. But our decision-making style can profoundly impact our critical thinking and competencies regarding more meaningful choices, such as those that affect our careers or personal lives.
What’s your decision-making style?
There are three primary decision-making styles: Personal, Practical, and Analytical.
Personal decision-making focuses on relationships and empathy.
This style often prioritizes understanding and empathizing with others, building relationships, and fostering interpersonal connections. In addition, this style can be instrumental in roles that require building rapport with clients or customers, such as sales or counseling.
Practical decision-making emphasizes efficiency and outcomes.
Individuals who use this style tend to be task-oriented and focused on efficiency, weighing the pros and cons of different options to make the best decision. As a result, this style can be instrumental in problem-solving roles like management or logistics.
Analytical decision-making prioritizes data and objectivity.
Individuals who use this style tend to be systematic and objective, using a data-driven approach to evaluate options and minimize the impact of personal biases and emotions. This style can be instrumental in roles requiring critical thinking, such as research or data analysis.
To see your preferred style, take a moment to reflect on how you typically approach decisions. For example, do you often consider the needs and feelings of others? Do you prioritize concrete results and outcomes? Or do you prefer to gather and analyze data before making a decision?
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Strengths and limitations of each style
Using multiple decision-making styles
Developing competencies in multiple styles
Bringing it all together
It’s important to remember that the diagnosis and solution development process is ongoing. Therefore, leaders and managers must remain vigilant and monitor the situation to ensure their solutions work as intended and address any new issues.
To effectively address poor performance, it’s also essential to understand the broader context in which the issue occurs. This includes factors such as organizational culture, team dynamics, workload, and other environmental factors that may be contributing to the problem.
In conclusion, addressing poor performance requires a thoughtful and systematic approach that involves diagnosing the root cause of the problem and developing targeted solutions to address it. By following the steps outlined in this article and remaining vigilant in monitoring the situation, leaders and managers can help create a supportive and collaborative environment in which employees feel empowered to improve their performance; leaders and managers can help to foster a positive and productive workplace culture.
