Three Ways to Improve Your Decision Making

The skills involved in decision making apply to a variety of different roles in modern business organizations. Administrative assistants and clerical workers benefit from quick and effective decision making. Due to the many different ways to develop skills related to decision making, the best methods are likely to vary between workers.

Effective decision making can have a major impact on your various job skills and roles in the office. While many trends stress everything from taking showers to playing chess to develop the skills that lead to quality decisions, one of the best things you can do is discipline yourself. Force yourself to quickly assess the given information and make your decision in a timely fashion. Practicing fast decision making is a proactive way to exercise your skills.

Consider enlisting the help of others in your organization or industry who are already experts at decision making. You may choose a mentor from within your company or an expert from within your existing network to provide advice and feedback on your decisions. This person should not make decisions for you; he should give you invaluable insight into your own actions. Enlisting the aid of a third party is not always the easiest of tasks, but building relationships in this fashion can give you access to assistance with many different job skills in addition to decision making.

Don't worry about small details. This is a common maxim in self-improvement literature for workers of all types, but it applies equally well to administrative assistants. Fretting over minute details can keep you from seeing the larger picture. You may even benefit from tackling bigger decisions as though they are simple matters. By downplaying the overall significance of the situation, you may alleviate some of the stress that causes second-guessing and a weak commitment to decisions. It is vitally important that you commit fully to decisions once you make them, and sweating the minutia can erode your confidence. Decision making requires constant commitment and focus.

When exercised regularly, your skills in this area will grow and activate automatically when you need them most. If you allow your decision-making skills to atrophy due to lack of use, you may lose confidence in them and they could fail you at critical moments. Developing these skills requires practice and focus. Those in your organization who currently possess strong skills likely went through a similar process to gain them, either in their youth or during their business careers, and can provide meaningful insight. When you are ready to begin the process of developing skills for decision making, remember that practice, commitment, and feedback can help get the results you need.

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