According to Tracy Bolton, chief operating officer at 51风流Africa, making good decisions is like a muscle that should be exercised regularly. “Some studies suggest . In our personal lives, those decisions could be about what to eat for lunch, or whether to keep reading a newspaper article. But in a business context, those decisions could be mission-critical, and getting it wrong could lead to lost opportunities, reduced revenue and lower levels of competitiveness.”

Avoiding decision fatigue

Researchers have found evidence of so-called decision fatigue, a concept that suggests .

Former US president Barack Obama, for example, chose to wear the same colour suits every day during his two terms to eliminate one of the many decisions he’d have to make during the day, .

“The more decisions you make during the day, the higher the likelihood that some of those decisions start showing poor outcomes,” adds Bolton. “In a business context, however, putting the correct systems and processes in place to automate some of the decision-making process can reduce the strain on executives and other decision-makers, leading to better business outcomes.”

Technology as a tool to improve decision-making

As the uncertainty caused by the pandemic combines with other disruptive global events, business leaders are finding it challenging to make the right decisions to steer their companies through the turbulence.

“Companies are increasingly turning to technology to support decision-making processes through the improved collection and processing of data,” says Bolton. “New data-driven solutions help bring greater transparency and predictability to critical aspects such as human capital management, procurement, supply chain management, risk and compliance, and financial planning.”

She cites growing innovation in how African enterprises are utilising SAP鈥檚 technology solutions as a positive sign for improved decision-making. 鈥淎cross the continent, companies of all sizes are using technology to track the impact of their decisions, mine historic data for trends insights, and improve forecasting with predictive capabilities. When integrated across each area of the business from the shop floor to the top floor, and using the following steps, companies can consistently make better decisions to improve the outcomes for the business.鈥�

To get decision-making right in our current business environment, Bolton recommends companies follow three key steps to improved business decision-making:

Step 1: Put the right systems in place

“In business, most of the decisions that are made should be underwritten by a set of policies and processes to speed up, automate and guide decision-making,” explains Bolton. “Technology solutions can be a powerful ally here, as they could be configured to have all of the processes and policies embedded, allowing for a seamless decision-making process.”

The entire human capital management function, for example, can be digitised, with best practices for hiring, leave policies, and more built into the system.

“Procurement systems can be configured to ensure you get the best pricing from only authorised suppliers, with aspects such as RFP management guided by industry standards. This reduces the pressure on individuals to make the correct decision as most of this is automated within the various systems.”

Step 2: Accommodate different types of decision-makers

Bolton says companies need to allow for different types of decisions to be made at different levels of the organisation.

“Different personalities make decisions in different ways. Some need to have all the data at hand and consider all angles before making a decision. Others only need some data and then rely on their instincts to move forward, while others still choose to make decisions based on their potential impact on people.”

She advises that companies use the policies and processes they’ve put in place to help create an environment where people feel empowered to make decisions and can learn from mistakes.

“Empowering your employees with accurate data can also bring direct improvements in the quality of the decisions they make, limiting mistakes and creating an environment where every employee can safely take action without putting the organisation at undue risk.”

Step 3: Exercise your – and your team’s – decision-making abilities

As with any skill, practice makes perfect. Bolton recommends that companies encourage practicing making decisions faster and with the correct data at hand.

“To exercise your decision-making abilities, start with smaller decisions and practice different techniques for coming to the correct decision,” advises Bolton. “For example, Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman recommends getting rid of overconfidence to improve the quality of your decisions.”

Another useful tool to practice better decision-making is the art of probability. “Research suggests even basic training in probability makes for better decision-makers and helps avoid cognitive biases that lead to poor decisions. However you approach it, taking opportunities to regularly practice making good decisions will invariably lead to better outcomes, for you, your team and the business.”

The post Three Steps to Improve Your Business Decision-making appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

Business leaders across the continent have had their hands full, from enabling remote work on a previously unprecedented scale to adapting to disruptions in the global supply chain, enabling e-learning for millions of youth 鈥� not to mention ensuring business continuity in the midst of a once-in-a-generation crisis.

Some changes in behaviour 鈥� such as the growing adoption of online shopping, telemedicine and digital channels for engaging with service providers 鈥� are likely to outlive the pandemic. Other behaviours 鈥� such as in-person teaching and working from the office at least some of the time 鈥� are likely to return once it鈥檚 safe.

Organisations need the flexibility to adapt to these multi-faceted changes while also improving the accuracy of the decisions they make regarding which route to take.

Speed or certainty?

McKinsey believes and will continue to play a leading role in guiding how businesses should adapt to ongoing uncertainty. The argument is that, by prioritising speed, organisations could make rapid decisions, act on emerging opportunities more quickly, and so improve their chances at overcoming the immense challenges created by the twin forces of digital disruption and the global pandemic.

Speed is certainly important, but there is no competitive advantage in making poor decisions quickly. The prevailing disruption and continued volatility requires that business leaders make decisions with certainty.

To make good decisions, business leaders need accurate sources of data, and the tools to turn that data into insights that can guide decision-making in real time. The modern business environment is simply too complex and volatile to rely entirely on so-called intuitive decision-making. Good quality, accurate and complete data integrated to an intelligent suite of business applications gives decision-makers greater scope for decisions that shift the needle of the business.

For example, responding well to changing customer demands is nearly impossible without knowing what those demands are. Having access to customer experience management tools that can track customer expectations in real time and guide how the business responds to those expectations removes much of the trial and error of manual decision-making. Integrating the customer experience management tool with an automation layer further increases both the speed and accuracy of that response.

Hybrid work models raise the stakes

The impact of the pandemic means most organisations are operating on a fragmented basis. Teams are working from home, making in-person methods of employee engagement and performance management almost totally obsolete, at least for the moment.

Without new employee engagement tools that can effectively mobilise and support teams around common business objectives, organisations could see falling productivity and negative effects on aspects such as product development or customer experience.

New management tools can provide measurable insights into the employee experience, which can assist managers and leaders with making better decisions over the types of support they need to provide to their teams.

Advances in data and analytics also bring data-driven insights into the boardroom, with technology solutions that connect the top floor with the shop floor to give C-level executives granular insight into the total performance of the business.

To harness data and technology for greater certainty in decision-making, organisations need to put certain building blocks in place.

Tools to create certainty in decision-making

In order to achieve a single accurate view over the organisation and empower decision-makers with actionable insights, organisations need to build intelligent enterprise capabilities.

In simple terms, this means using the latest technologies to turn insight into action across every aspect of the business, in real time. Integrated business applications – such as enterprise resource planning and human capital management solutions – powered by next-generation technologies such as artificial intelligence help transform end-to-end business processes.

Experience management solutions give insight to the sentiment of customers, partners and employees, while business process intelligence and automation enable organisations to immediately act on insights and opportunities.

At the foundation of the intelligent enterprise is cloud, which gives organisations the ability to simplify and scale their systems landscape without sacrificing performance.

Cloud empowers businesses with the certainty of a quicker time-to-value, without the upfront capital outlays required of on-premise deployments.

With cloud-enabled intelligent enterprise capabilities, organisations can achieve the speed needed to stay ahead of competitors and other disruptors while maintaining the certainty of measured, data-driven decision-making.

And with new tools such as RISE with SAP, organisations can start building intelligent enterprise capabilities no matter what stage of their digital transformation journeys they find themselves.

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