If you want to mprove your decision making, first think about following questions. They can reveal some basic issues, weak points and flaws in your decision making. The first step to improvement is to become aware of possible shortcomings. Since bad decisions can threaten your projects as well as your career, perhaps it is the time to examine how good you are at making critical decisions, claims the management.about.com website.
1) Is your team clear about the distribution of roles and responsibilities for making key decisions?
2) Are there any bottlenecks? Can you do something about it? Can you assign responsibilities and roles differently, or get others to collaborate more?
3) Do others give you enough input needed for a decision? Is the amount appropriate?
4) Do you gather enough information? What about the quality of the data you gather, is it good?
5) How many points on a scale of 1-10 would you award to yourself as far as the quality and timeliness of your decisions? You may want to review a few decisions that you have made in past weeks or months. Were these decisions right? Have you also managed to execute them well?
Ask for opinions and recommendations from others
The above questions do not merely apply to you. You should go and meet with a number of your direct reports, your peers, and your boss and ask for their opinions as well. Combine their feedback with your own and you may be able to identify some flaws in the way decisions are made in your organization. Of course, you will need to use your listening skills and ask open-ended questions. Who do you know that always makes right and timely decisions? Seek these people and talk to them. Find out what processes and rules they are using. Get inspired.
-jk-