Decision Making
From Product Management School
Decision making can be described as the ability to form a conclusion or to come up with a solution to a given problem or issue.
There are always decisions to be made. Our minutes, hours and days are filled with choices that we make decisions about.
As a Product Manager, decision making takes on a different slant because every decision that you make in your role affects many others and your company. Good decision making skills are vital for being an effective product manager.
Tips for Making Good Decisions
How do you make a good decision? First step is to ensure that you have all the information you need. If you follow the steps below, you will be heading in the right direction:
- Identify exactly what the problem is including its root causes.
- Document the problem to crystallize what you believe the problem to be.
- Collaboratively (as required) generate as many options as you can that provide solutions to the problem or individual aspects of it.
- Explore and research the options further, not for too long procrastination is a no-no.
- Choose the best option or combination of options available.
- Review the decision.
- Implement the decision and communicate it clearly and concisely.
- Monitor the direct results of implementing the solution.
Decision Making Techniques
Most of us have a tendency to make decisions solely on gut instincts. As a product manager, you are accountable for your decisions and need to be able to justify them with a clear rationale.
Let us look at the four most commonly used decision making techniques:
The Morphological Box/ Grid Analysis/Decision Matrix: This is a very simple methodology that involves the drawing of a grid with the root problems that you have identified as the column headers and then each solution has its own row. You then systematically review each option against to see which problems they solve. You can do this by simply using ticks or assigning a number on a scale from 1-5 for the effectiveness of that solution for the related problem. Adding up the ticks and scores will give you an idea of the best solution.
The Weighted Decision Matrix/Weighted Grid Analysis: This is a more evolved version of the technique above. You draw up exactly the same grid but you assign weightings to each of the problems. So the problems that are more important to be solved would have a higher weighting than the lesser ones. As before you review each solution against the problem assign it a score say from 1-5 and then multiply it by the weighting for that particular problem. Adding up the scores will give you an idea of the best solution.
Decision Trees: These are diagrams that are designed to graphically depict the decision making process and any influence that the decision will have down the line. You start with a box on the left of the page and then flow out each decision point. Each decision point is a gateway. If the answer to the decision is a yes you then flow on to the next decision. This goes on until all the decisions have been made. Doing this for each option allows you to see where the options may start to fall apart.
