Decision making is the action or process of making important decisions. It could also be said to be the process of selecting a logical choice from the available options. When trying to make a good decision, a person must weigh the positives and negatives of each option, and consider all the alternatives.
For effective decision making, a person must be able to forecast the outcome of each option as well, and based on all these items, determine which option is the best for the said situation.
Decision-making can be regarded as a problem-solving activity terminated by a solution deemed to be satisfactory. It is therefore a process which can be rational or irrational and can be based on explicit or tacit knowledge.
Human performance has been the subject of active research from several perspectives. We make decisions about what to eat, where to go to, when to play and even what to wear. Decision-making is not streamlined to any specific aspect of life, it applies to all aspects. In psychology, decision-making is said to be a cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several alternative possibilities.
Personally, I describe it as the freedom to choose from a variety of options in a bid to proffer solution to a problem at hand. Certain choices come with sacrifices and others do not. Just as in business terms, the sacrifices associated with decision-making can go a long way to improve a company’s performance or mar it.
Consider these instances, the decision to hire candidate A over candidate B, the decision to invest more in digital marketing or traditional marketing or the decision to choose to partner with company A over company B. due to the sacrifices involved in decision-making, one must be very careful and be sure to do appropriate weighing of the outcomes of every available option when making decisions.
Several factors influence decision-making, below they include:
Each of these factors come into play depending on the situation upon which those decisions need to be made. However, irrespective of the situation at hand, it is important to think carefully before making any decision.