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The Exercise of Performance in Decision-Making

After reviewing the video by the Harvard Business Review (2010), it becomes clearer to me that the decisions organizations make, especially at the senior leadership level, directly impact the performance of the employees and the overall organization. In the sense of positivity, decisions influence many things, but the fact that the positive nature of certain decisions makes that influence even more impactful. Imagine if you will a decision that negatively influences employee salaries, benefits or more. Wouldn’t you expect that these types of decisions gravely diminish the morale and culture of the organization? Thus, making decisions that create negative influence are those that may create a work environment that decreases the effectiveness and output of the organization. The way in which employee engagement relates to decision making is quite impactful. The more employees are engaged in an organization is translate to the more they are involved with effective decision-making. We cannot always guarantee positive outcomes; many factors that affect these outcomes are out of our control (Hoch, Kunreuther, & Gunther, 2001, p. 275). The fact remains that having an organization which cultivates engagement, positively rewards effective communication and places the decision-making process in a prominent place will result in an enhanced organization moving forward.

Impediments and obstacles that could prevent an organization vary from the complex environment in which they operate. It can be difficult to understand where decisions within the organization are coming from and when this happens, employees may not understand with clear definition who is in charge or who to look to in moments of crisis. However, in the video (2010), Blenko states there are four elements of good decisions: quality, speed, yield, and effort. Although I don’t think there are items missing from her list, Blenko could have stated that measuring the outcomes of these elements will clearly help an organization understand where they can and should improve.

The exercise of watching this video and how the steps and elements involved with decision-making and its influence on an organization performing well are helpful reminders for me as I continue to progress through my professional development. I can use this to help my efforts to be a great leader by positioning myself and the organization I work in a great place now and in the future. I will take this information, reflect on it and develop better strategies to implement so that I help prevent our organization from falling behind in its effectiveness.

References

Harvard Business Review. (2010, October 13). How Companies Can Make Better Decisions, Faster. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=emb_logo

Hoch, S., Kunreuther, H., & Gunther, R. (2001). Wharton on making decisions. New York: Wiley.

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