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Procrastination

7 Keys to Better Decisions at Work

People, projects, procrastination, promotion, and more.

Mohamed Hassan, Pixabay, Public Domain
Source: Mohamed Hassan, Pixabay, Public Domain

Tomorrow, I'll conduct a workshop on decision-making and I thought you might find it helpful to see a summary of what I’m planning to say. The workshop will focus on the following common workplace situations plus my thoughts on the role of emotion and of gut-feeling in decision-making.

When to make a unilateral decision, initiate a process, or get minor input

Unilateral decision-making is fast and can lead to bolder decisions than those derived from group input, which often leads to a tepid, lower-common-denominator solution that everyone can live with.

Having a process increases buy-in and uses the group's collective intelligence but risks yielding the aforementioned: mediocre solutions.

Getting minor input is, of course, the middle ground. Examples of minor input include asking one or two respected people within or outside your organization, or emailing your draft idea to stakeholders for input, after which you unilaterally decide.

Of course, the right approach depends on the situation's risk/reward. For example:

  • How important is the decision? If it's critical, that favors initiating a process.
  • Does a unilateral decision's speed and your confidence in your solution outweigh the risk of being wrong and/or having stakeholders object to not having been heard?

For example, let's say your organization has an unused building that you want to convert to a conference center. Quick decisions could make the center available within a year, speedily yielding money and service to all who'd rent it, whereas a slow process could require years. Yet a slow process could yield a wiser plan with fewer missteps. It also would foster stakeholders' buy-in, which would encourage them to promote the center.

Deciding whether to do a task now or later

Sometimes, it’s wise to wait if you have more important or time-sensitive priorities, if time would likely reveal important information, or you know you’ll feel more like doing the task later. But more often, people delay unpleasant tasks, inaccurately telling themselves that they’ll feel more like doing it later.

So, if you’re considering deferring a task, be honest with yourself: How much more likely are you to do the task later? In making that decision, consider your track record: Has “I’ll do it later” usually worked for you?

How perfectionistic to be? Some tasks are worth doing perfectly, while others are more wisely done quick-and-dirty. It can be tempting to, for example, get perfectionistic on work you'd find fun, even if unimportant. For example, an artistically oriented client fiddled for quite a while with the aesthetic fine points of a minor PowerPoint presentation. Another client, who loved details, spent unnecessary time unearthing, recording, and creating charts for detailed numbers of trivial value. Consciously deciding how perfectionist to be may help you find time for more important work or, yes, for breaks.

Whether to try to get promoted

It’s almost reflexive to try to get promoted, whether because of the money, status, or merely because it's a societal norm. Yet, of course, we shouldn’t be held hostage by convention. What's right for you?

Reasons to want to get promoted

  • · More responsibility
  • More challenge
  • · More opportunity to make a difference
  • · Escape from a disliked coworker or boss
  • · Money. I list this last because the after-tax increase rarely benefits your lifestyle or financial security much compared with the previous factors' benefits.

Reasons to not want to get promoted

  • ·Realistic fear of failure, not just hurting you but perhaps your organization and its customers.
  • ·Additional work hours that you believe would be more wisely allocated to your personal life.
  • Additional stress that comes from more responsibility.
  • Belief that another person would do a better job. Thus, by not applying, you're rewarding not only that person but coworkers and customers.

So, what, if any, promotion feels right for you? And just maybe, would you be wise to take a step down? For example, I have had clients who had been promoted to management or leadership who chose to return to being an individual contributor and were happier. Similarly, I've had clients who found their individual contributor job to be too challenging and were happier taking a step or two down.

Of course, one example of a step down is to retire. Considering your needs as well as those of coworkers, bosses, and customers, would you be wise to retire? Of course, consider such factors as your financial security and what you’d do with the time if you were retired. Are you one of those people who’d pleasantly and productively fill your days for years?

If you think it’s wise to consider retirement, do you want to maximize your legacy, for example, by helping to select and train your replacement? By taking on a grand-finale project?

Certainly, up isn’t the only way.

What to do about a poor-performing supervisee

If replacing a weak employee would be very difficult, time-consuming, and stressful, it may be wise to focus on making the most of the employee. If so, given that person’s strengths, weaknesses, and personality, which one or more of the following seems wise:

  • ·Meet with the person to understand what’s going on with him or her: Is the work too hard? Too easy? Does it seem meaningless? Is s/he harboring a resentment? Suffering with a physical or mental health issue, a substance abuse, or family problem? You may or may not want to or be required to address such an issue, but you’ll develop a better plan and likely gain more assent if you understand what’s going on.
  • Collaboratively identify areas to improve. Sure, consider measurable items, but many important aspects of performance aren't readily measurable, for example, quality of work. For example, if the person’s reports show inadequate thinking, provide an example(s) of what would be adequate.
  • ·Provide training. You may or may not feel that providing additional training is a good use of your time. If not, should it be provided by someone else, in-house or outside? Or might there be an online or in-person class that would help?
  • Accept the person as-is. That can be wise when:

-- You’ve tried the above.

-- You're confident that the person is unlikely to change sufficiently.

-- Your time would otherwise be better spent than on that employee, and/or

-- You fear reprisal. For example, pushing a weak employee to improve can result in the person filing a grievance with the boss, HR, and/or the union.

Using your emotions

Of course, emotions can lead to irrational decisions but, used wisely, emotions can be helpful. For example, let’s say you’re frustrated with a situation, supervisee, or colleague. Instead of telling yourself to calm down, might it be wise to use your anger to fuel you to act when you otherwise might unreasonably rationalize inaction?

Conversely, let’s say you’re in a good mood. Should you take advantage of that, for example, to work on that project you’d been procrastinating? Or to forgive a supervisee, colleague, or boss when, in the cosmic scheme of things, that’s wise?

One more example. Let’s say you’re fond of a particular colleague or customer. Even if it’s not quite rational, should you decide to give that person a little extra time or effort? That can make you feel better about your job and yourself, and make the person feel specially cared about, something we all can use in these stressful, often cold times.

The power and limits of gut feeling

We’re often told to go with our gut and sometimes that’s wise, but gut feeling can be wrong. A safety valve is, when your gut is telling to you decide X, to put yourself in the shoes of an ace debater. What might his or her counterarguments be? If you’re still unsure what to do, should you get more information so your gut feeling is more informed?

The takeaway

Decision-making is, of course, always specific to the problem, the people involved, and your abilities and preferences. But is there at least one idea here that you want to make a point of remembering?

I read this aloud on YouTube.

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