How to effectively make decisions alone?

To make decisions alone, for sure, everyone had to.

Group work or pair work is great. Of course, it is better when there is someone to consult with, exchange opinions, listen to a more experienced person. In addition, in this case, the responsibility for the decision is distributed among all participants in the process.

Therefore, many people tend to completely lay down all obligations regarding decision-making – too much responsibility frightens. Because we so often want someone to solve our problems for us

But, meanwhile, the ability to make decisions alone is especially important. It is useful both in work and in personal life. Sometimes the circumstances themselves develop in such a way that it is impossible to take control of the situation in another way, for example, under the influence of external factors.

So, we want to share with you a technique with which you can absolutely painlessly make decisions, relying only on yourself.

You will need a large sheet of paper, a marker and stickers. Put your laptop or tablet aside. Arm yourself with intuition, a sense of the situation and try to get away from patterns.

How to effectively make decisions alone?

Methodology
So how should you proceed?

Hang a large piece of paper on the wall or place it on a table. Take stickers and a black marker.
Think about the decision you need to make. What are the criteria for its success?
Follow the scheme “1 sticker = 1 option”. Write down these options on sticky notes.
Draw a large 2×2 table (see picture).
Place stickers according to the scales. When attaching a sticker, ask yourself: how much will this option help? How quickly will I reach my goal? Is it hard or easy?
Leave a place near the stickers where you can write down the pros and cons of each option.
Record the results.
See? It’s not all that scary! This method allows you to look at the situation in detail, breaking it into several parts. It is worth noting that even if you did not make a decision right away, you probably saw some prospects, and also got a couple of ideas worth your further attention. Agree, this is already a very good result.

How to sort ideas and not miscalculate

sort ideas New ideas can be a great evil. If a company does not know how to properly sort ideas, but likes to enthusiastically take on all innovations, then the forces can be wasted. To avoid this, we suggest that you read this article and try out the idea sorting algorithm.

“Deciding what we will not do is as important as deciding what we will be” – Steve Jobs.

Any company has long-term goals and plans. All actions taken, decisions made and ideas implemented in one way or another should help the company achieve these goals. Therefore, the rejection of some ideas will allow the company to stay on track.

In order to correctly sort ideas, we propose an algorithm that consists of three questions.

1. How will the novelty help achieve the long-term goals of the company?
For this point, it is important to have very specific and clear goals for the company. They help to define the framework within which to operate. What do you do? And most importantly, who are you doing this for? Will your target audience appreciate the innovation that you plan to implement? Will it solve their problems?

If a new idea doesn’t stand up to these questions, it’s worth saying “no” from it. It is not easy to admit defeat, but things that do not work must be abandoned.

2. Do we want to introduce this just because everyone does it?
The following phrases should not be used as an argument in defense of an idea:

“Everyone does it”;
“Our competitors do this”;
“Because we must”;
“Because people will want it”;
“Because we need”;
“Because I think it’s a good idea.”
You need to understand the nature of your company. Often, what competitors or “everyone” does is completely unnecessary for your customers. It is important for customers that products solve their problems and you should pay your attention to this.

3. Briefly state the goals and objectives of the innovation.
For each idea that came to mind of one of the employees, you can write a press release. Working on it will make you think once again who this product is for, how it will hook the audience and how it differs from competitors. Basically, the creator needs to answer the following questions:

What is the essence of the experiment?
What problem are we trying to solve?
What are we trying to achieve?
Who is our target audience?
What are the parameters in our experiment?
How will we measure success?

It is worth starting with a clear plan of what you will do. Then voice the goals and problems that need to be solved. Next, determine the timing of the experiment. As soon as the deadline comes to an end, you need to make a decision – to use the novelty further or abandon it.

Pay due attention to all the ideas that arise from employees. Analyze them based on the interests of the company and the needs of customers. Try to sort ideas according to this algorithm. Then the introduced innovations will only bring benefits, and your time and resources will not be wasted.