Making Decisions, Weighing Risk

The Rationale
At work our day is filled with decisions. Some are relatively automatic and involve little or no risk. We make hundreds of these decisions every week. This course does not deal with such decisions. Rather, our concern is with decisions whose outcomes have more at stake and whose inputs are more complex¼ many factors must be weighed. Such decisions require care in specifying the desired outcomes, determining criteria, selecting and evaluating alternatives, assessing risk, and drawing up an implementation plan. In short, this module teaches the process of preparing a decision matrix and using it to make the best selection(s), while reducing risk and fear of failure.

Learning Objectives for the Workshop
Participants who attend this workshop will be able to:

• Distinguish between problem solving and decision making
  
• Define 4 terms whose meaning is central to the decision-making process
  
• Identify a 10-step decision-making process
  
• Identify 4 types of decisions and compare them on 2 variables
  
• Distinguish among limits, desirables, and options
  
• Prepare and complete a decision matrix

Performance Criteria in the Workplace
Participants who attend this workshop will be able to:

• Define the situation that led up to and now requires a decision
  
• State the objective of a decision in a manner that meets the criteria taught
  
• Specify the criteria that will influence the selection of options
  
• Generate options by selecting from existing alternatives or creating new ones
  
• Assign weights to the options identified
  
• Perform a risk analysis and apply it to the final making of the decision
  
• Implement the decision and monitor the results
  
• Apply the 10-step decision-making process in a variety of situations