Decision Making During the Coronavirus Crisis

No matter what your job is, decision-making might be the hardest and most demanding. All the tough decisions, complex decisions, short-term and long-term decisions are all someone’s responsibility. At a time like this, while the world is fighting a pandemic and most are working from home, company management has had to alter their processes quite suddenly. This means extra complex and extra tough decisions.

Whether it is contributing to business strategies, a revised hiring routine, team building, implementation of change initiatives, or delegation, they all require strong decision-making skills. Whether you are new to the job or not, a situation like this is unprecedented.

In March 2019, Alpha surveyed over 300 decision makers about the various aspects of decision-making and 79.4% said that their ability to make appropriate decisions is important or extremely important for their career advancement.

Here are a few considerations to make as the decision-maker.

Calm yet confident

With so much uncertainty during times like these, it’s easy to let the stress get to you. But that’s exactly what will hamper your decision-making. Your team is looking to you to help them move forward, so understanding the situation and what is required will help you beat the stress and stay calm and make confident decisions.

Plan

Taking on the decision-making for a project or company is a huge task. This requires you to see well into the future and make decisions accordingly. This will require you to be organized and diligent in the planning process. Make sure all points, situations, and clauses are clearly articulated and cover all aspects. Note down short-term decisions and long-term decisions that need to be made and organize your resources and time accordingly.

Communication skills

Communication pertains to your skills to discuss and put your point across, conveying information clearly, making sure there aren’t any misunderstandings, and keeping everyone updated and upraised on the situation. But it also means continuing to do so, so that there is never a point where you didn’t communicate on time leading to miscommunication. Staying silent or postponing a conversation is not a good idea. To keep things running smoothly, inform the team about how they can contribute so that you’re not on the receiving end of barely thought-through rants and bits and pieces of information.

Dealing with problems

Sometimes, even with all your efforts in the right direction, there might still be unforeseen problems that will occur. When you are posed with a problem, consider the way you approach it. Try and break it down and deal with the parts one by one. Here is also where the calm demeanor will help. See the problem without the stress, just for what it is, see all its implications and resolve it strategically and slowly. Also try and understand where and why the problem arose to begin with. This will help make sure it doesn’t happen again. Also, make sure not to get too wrapped up in the problem-solving and lose sight of the big picture.

Hold your own

While working with a team, it’s easy to agree with everyone but sometimes, as the decision maker, you need to consider certain aspects that the rest of the team might not. This is when you need to think about the options objectively and make the decision you think is right. This doesn’t mean you don’t consider the rest of the team’s opinions at all. On the contrary, it means that after considering the team’s opinions and reasoning, you make the decision you think will benefit the team and the company. This is also the time you should consider not sticking to your comfort zone and settling for the easy decision, rather explore all the options, however tough and unorthodox and then when it comes time for the decision to be made, make the right one.

Back it up

While you should make your own decisions, don’t make them out of ‘feeling’, ‘better judgement’, or even ‘instinct’. Back it up with data and research. Look for similar case studies to get a better perspective and speak with experts to get their analysis and then make the decision. It’s less likely that your decision will fail if you have the evidence to back it up. Play Devil’s advocate with the decision you’re leaning towards to challenge it. When you have all the facts in place and all the angles and options at hand, then make your decision.

Being in the position to make decisions for a larger outfit than yourself such as your team or even your company is a big ask. It can be very challenging but also very exciting. With a little extra care and diligence, you will be able to make the right decisions for those who rely on your decisions-making skills.

Further Reading: Decision-Making in Management: 5 Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Summary

Q. What’s the best way to deal with problems during the coronavirus crisis?

A. Dealing with a problem calmly helps. Breaking the problem down to solve it bit by bit will make it less stressful to deal with.

 

Q. Why are communication skills important during a crisis like this?

A. In order to make sure there is no miscommunication and misunderstandings and to make sure things run smoothly.