How many decisions do you have to make in a day? If you are a business owner or oversee a department in an organization, multiply that by a lot. I say a lot because the number of decisions you have to make most likely fluctuates from day to day.
You are constantly faced with making important decisions that can have a significant impact on your organization’s success. Making decisions day in and day out can be mentally exhausting, leading to decision fatigue. When you experience decision fatigue, your ability to make sound judgments and rational choices decreases, leading to poor decision-making and costly mistakes.
What if there was a way to help you and your team make better decisions that aligned with the values of the organization?
Sounds good, right?
The reality is, making decisions should be easier than we make them. Here are 4 ways to help with your decision fatigue as a business owner and leader:
1. Start with understanding your organization’s values
The core values of a business are the fundamental beliefs that guide or motivate the attitudes and actions of the organization. When you know your organization’s core values, you can make decisions faster, easier, and with greater confidence. They also help give you clarity. In the end, your values should guide your actions.
2. Prioritize And Delegate Your Decisions
To give you some brain space, sit down and make a list of the items you need to decide. The ones someone else can decide, delegate it to trusted team members or advisors who have the expertise and knowledge to make sound judgments and who understand the organization’s core values.
Then, look at the list and decide which ones need to be decided now and which ones can be decided later. The ones that can be decided later, put a calendar appointment or task in your task management software for you in the future for when that decision needs to be made. That way you captured it, will take care of it, but it is off of your plate right now.
3. Simplify Your Decisions
Simplify your decisions by reducing the number of choices you have to make. For example, create a set of decision-making criteria or guidelines that you can refer to when making certain types of decisions. This will help you make faster, more informed decisions without getting bogged down in the details
As an example, a question you can ask yourself is; Does the decision allow my team to do their job better?
4. Use Technology
Technology can help streamline your decision-making process and give you brain space. There is nothing worse than going back and forth on when to meet with someone. Utilize calendar software like calendly or one with your CRM. That way the person can look at your availability and their calendar to get it scheduled.
Decision fatigue is real and can have an impact on your mental energy and your business’s success. Obviously, there are more ways to help you ease the burden of decision fatigue, but these are just a few.
What have you found helpful in making decisions in your leadership role?
I strategically help business owners develop their leadership competencies. We implement ways to be more strategic to increase revenue and develop workflows that affect the bottom line. In the end, we create work-life integration so they live a life they love.
Own a business? Sign up for your own First Steps Appointment. We can talk about the first steps to creating a strategy based around the pain points of your business. Sign up here.
Stephanie German is a business strategist, adjunct professor, and speaker. She holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership and loves giving back to her community in a variety of ways. When she’s not coaching clients or writing about leadership, Stephanie is usually headed to the mountains or the beach with her family, drinking savory wine, or working on the latest project with her husband. She lives in Fresno, California with her husband Blake and her three spunky daughters, Cara, Kinsey, and Peyton. She is the best-selling author of So Your Boss Can’t Lead?