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5 Tips for Project Managers to Improve Decision-Making

Project managers have to make different decisions when managing a project. Every decision will impact the project in one way or another. That’s why it’s essential to carefully evaluate all the factors before making any decision.

In this article, we will take a look at some of the ways in which project managers can improve the outcome of the decision-making process.

1. Use Latest Project Management Tools

Project management tools can help improve the decision making. Online project management software not just improves team collaboration but also provide vital information that can be used to make effective decisions. You should not presume that making use of the tools will make you a weaker person. In fact, it will allow you to become more adept at making the right decisions.

2. Create a Decision Framework

Decision framework has been extensively studied in the literature. The framework will allow you to make a decision in a systematic manner. You need to define the problem in order to make the right decision. Once the problem has been defined, you should frame the decision by asking questions such as:

• Who is affected?
• Who should make the decision?
• How the problem affects the overall process?
• Who should review the decision?

After the problem has been framed, you should next make a decision and then implement it. Lastly, you should monitor the situation to ensure that your decision is implemented successfully.

3. Develop a Criteria for the Decision

You should be thoughtful when it comes to allocation of the resources. The criteria should relate to assigning major tasks and spending money. When making the criteria, you should clearly evaluate each of them.

Consider writing a one-page document that summarizes the criteria for the decision making. At this point, the iron triangle can help in selecting the criteria. The iron triangle model specifies the constraints including project scope, time, and cost. You should evaluate the criteria based on the scope, quality, and timeframe of the project.

4. Make Use of Your Experience

Finally, you must learn from your experience when making a decision. This is the reason that experienced project managers are considered golden as compared to inexperienced ones. You should reflect on your past decisions, and learn from your past mistakes. Given equal importance to decisions that turned out good, as well as those that did not.

5. Keep the End in Mind

When making any decision, you should keep the end goal in mind, which is to satisfy the stakeholders. You should evaluate the interests of the stakeholders when making any decisions. You may not be able to satisfy all stakeholders, but it’s important to maximize the satisfaction of key stakeholders including the customer and the company.

The above tips can help project managers to make effective decisions. Make sure that before taking any decision you analyze the expected costs and outcomes of the decision. Also, once a decision has been made, you should not consider it as a set in stone. Be prepared to modify the plan based on the changed circumstances.