Whenever we are involved in making decisions a number of factors can affect the process we follow and ultimately the decision we make.

We can organise the factors affecting decision making into three major groups:

• Perception Issues

• Organisational Issues

• Environmental Issues

Perception can be described as the way in which individuals interpret their environment. An individual's perception can influence how they make decisions and solve problems. For example, when information about a problem needs to be gathered the individual's perception will impact on where the information is sought and the type of information regarded as relevant.

Perception can be influenced by the following:

• The perceiver

• The object

• The situation

The Perceiver

The perceiver, the individual perceiving the object, will be heavily influenced by their personal characteristics. The types of personal characteristics that can affect an individual's perception include:

• Background and experience

• Personal values

• Personal expectations

• Personal interests

The Object

The object, which refers to any person, item or event can have an impact on the way it is perceived. For example, when a manager receives a number of reports to read he may be more inclined to read the one with the most colourful cover as this one stands out.

The relation an object has to other objects can also affect the perception of the perceiver. For example, an individual team member may be judged on the actions of the whole team even when it is more appropriate for them to be judged on their own merits.

The Situation

Time, location and other situational factors can influence our perception of an object. For example, a Team Leader may notice team members who work late on the same evenings as the Team Leader. However, team members who work late on other evenings may not be noticed by the Team Leader.

A number of organisational issues can impact on the decision making process. These issues include:

Policies and Procedures

Many organisations have formalised policies and procedures which have been developed to resolve common problems and to guide managers when making decisions. For example, many organisations have documented disciplinary procedures which guide managers through a process of resolving issues with staff members.

Organisational Hierarchy

Organisational hierarchy refers to the management structure of the organisation. Most organisations have different levels of management which carry with them different degrees of authority. The degree of authority directly impacts on the nature of the decisions an individual can make. For example, a Customer Contact Centre Team Leader cannot make decisions about the overall goals of the organisation. However, the Team Leader can make decisions about how their team contributes to the achievement of the organisation's goals.

Organisational Politics

Organisational politics refers to behaviour displayed by individuals and groups which is designed to influence others. Individuals and teams will often use politics to:

Organisations are made up of individuals with different beliefs, values and interests. These differences are often the driving forces behind organisational politics. For example, two teams believe they require an extra team member. Unfortunately the organisation can only afford one new employee. The two teams may well use politics in an attempt to influence their manager to allocate the new employee to their team.

Issues
within the Environment:

Environmental issues are the external factors that affect the organisation. The types of external factors that can have an effect on decision making include:

• The market in which the organisation operates

• The economy

• Government legislation

• Customers' reaction to the organisation's products and services

For example, B&B online™ decided to create a new team, B&B for Busy Bodies™ because they believed that a corporate market existed for the bed and breakfast industry.

Common Decision Making Mistakes:

Many of the factors which affect the decision making process can lead to mistakes being made. By being aware of the types of mistakes that can be made and by understanding the reasons for the mistakes a Team Leader is in a better position to avoid making them.

Some common mistakes that decision makers should be aware of include:

• Only hearing and seeing what we want. Each individual has their own unique set of preferences or biases which blinker them to certain information. The best way to deal with this problem is to identify your preferences and biases whilst attempting to be open to the information around you.

• Placing too great a reliance on the information you receive from others. Often we rely on certain individuals to provide support and guidance. This may be a suitable course of action in many cases. However, if the individual is not closely involved in the problem situation they may not have the necessary information or knowledge to help make the decision.

• Placing too little emphasis on the information you receive from others. This issue can easily occur in a team situation. In many cases the team members are the people who are most closely involved in a problem situation and they often have the most pertinent information in relation to the problem. The best way to deal with this issue is to ensure that team members are involved in the decision making process.

• Ignoring your intuition. On many occasions we are actually aware at a subconscious level of the correct course of action. Unfortunately, we often tend to ignore our intuition.

If you would like to read more about mistakes that can be made when making a decision look at the following resource:

More of the Most Common Decision Making Mistakes People Make

Try This

Enter your Breakout Room and access the discussion titled Factors Affecting Decision Making.

With another online learner, discuss the issues that you have both been addressing as you have worked through the problem solving and decision making process.

If you worked on the B&B for Busy Bodies™ problem discuss how you would go about solving the issue of low performance. What types of issues do you believe would affect you if you had to solve this type of problem in a real life work situation?

If you worked on a problem at work discuss how you tackled your problem and the type of information you gathered. Explain to your online learning partner why you made your decision. Ask your online learning partner how they would have tackled your problem.

With your online learning partner identify where personal issues or organisational issues might have affected how you went about solving your problem. Did personal issues or organisational issues affect the decision you made? Did you make any common mistakes when you made your decision?