Decision Making at workplace takes place everyday and plays a major role in moving organizational activities.

1. DECISION MAKING PROCESS AND PROBLEM
SOLVING
BY
Abraham Marangu Ncunge

2. INTRODUCTION
• A problem is a mystery, a puzzle and unsettled
matter requiring a solution, a plan or an issue
involving uncertainty.
• A problem is a gap between ideal and actual
conditions
• Problems can be classified into three ways:
• Problems that have happened
• Problems that lie ahead
• Problems you want to prevent

3. Problem solving
• Problem solving is a set of activities designed
to analyze a situation systematically and
generate, implement and evaluate solutions.

4. Decision.
• A decision is a choice between alternative
solutions to a problem.
• In making decisions the manager need to note
the following:
• Action is required to change or improve the
results
• You have at least two alternatives
• The consequences of bad decisions affect many
parties including decision makers themselves.

5. Decision making Process
• Decision making is a mechanism for making
choices at each step of the problem solving
process.

6. Styles of decision making
• Individual decision making. This is a situation
whereby the leader makes the decision alone
and input from others are limited.
• Decision making through consultation.
In this style the leader and others work
together until they reach a consensus. Each
group member’s opinion and point of view is
considered. All group members are
accountable and support the final decision.

7. Cont.
• Delegating the decision. When delegating the
decisions the leader sets the parameters, then
allows one or more persons to make the final
decision. The leader will eventually support
the decision of the delegates if the decision is
in conformity to the parameters.

8. Cont.
• What are the consequences of
poor decisions in the civil
service?

9. Decision Making Process
• Starting Point. While making the decision the
first consideration is evaluating the resources at
the disposal.
• Available procedural documents. These are
documents which provide guidelines for decision
making. These documents are fundamental in the
sense that many factors are taken into
consideration at the time they are developed and
assumed to cater for the interests of all persons
concerned.

10. Cont.
• What are the procedural
documents that guide decision
making in the civil service?

11. Steps in Decision Making
• Define the problem. This is the most
important but also most difficult step in the
process. All subsequent steps will be based on
how a manager define and assess the problem
at hand. Unless the problem is well identified,
you’re not ready for step 2. The identification
of the problem is usually based on the
symptoms.

12. Cont.
• While defining the problem one is supposed
to address the root cause of the problem at
hand. It is necessary to ask yourself a few
questions relating to the problem you intend
to solve. This is terms of:
• What is happening?
• When did it start?

13. Cont.
• Why did it happen?
• Where did it happen?
• How did it happen?
• Who is involved?

14. Cont.
• The most common error in problem solving is
defining problems in terms of solutions. The
decision maker should analyze the situation to
determine the extent of the problem. For
example strike over low wages and proposal
for the percentage increments.

15. Step 2: Gather the facts and data
• Gather all the data that might have a bearing
on the problem. Most of the data will consists
of facts, opinion, assumptions obtained from
observations and records. If information is not
available delay your decision until you get it.
This will help the decision maker to explore
alternatives solutions to the problem.

16. Data collection techniques in
decision making
• Brainstorming. This requires an environment
in which the participants are free to ‘think
loud’ (retreats, conferences, seminars). The
participants make many suggestions within a
specified period of time. At this period no
evaluation/control of ideas is permitted in
order to encourage flow of creative ideas.

17. Cont.
• After the brainstorming session all options are
screened and best idea is identified. It is also
necessary to note that when collecting these
ideas one is not supposed to pass any
judgment on the ideas.

18. Cont.
• Surveys. This economically tap ideas of large
group of respondents. Surveys present
respondents with the problem and a series of
alternative solutions.
• Discussion Groups. This consists of those who
are directly involved in decision making.
During discussions the group should be:
Comprehensive
Avoid initial judgment

19. Cont.
• Focus on the problem not personalities of
people in the decision making process.
• Experience. ‘Experience is the best teacher.’
Reliance on experience is guide for future
action. Experienced managers usually believe
often without realizing is that, the things they
have successfully accomplished and the
mistakes they have made furnish almost
infallible guides to the future.

20. Cont
• Experimentation. It is applicable in scientific
inquiry. It is the only way a manager can make
sure plans are right.

21. Step 3: Organize the information
• If you are working with many facts or mass of
data, you’ll have to sort out the important
from trivial and organize the information so as
to compare and analyze the sorted data. This
will assist the manager to select an alternative
solution. The alternative should stand out as
closest to solving the problem with the most
advantages and fewer disadvantages.

22. Cont.
• While selecting an alternative for problem
solving the following factors should be
considered.
• Political
• Safety
• Financial
• Environmental
• Ethical considerations

23. Step 4. Implement the best alternative
• It is rare for a problem to have only one
solution. The manager should keep an open
mind, let his imagination roam freely over the
facts collected and jot down the possible
solutions.
• In implementing solutions the manager
should consider the following:

24. Cont.
• Develop an action plan which will stipulates the
implementation activities.
Who has to do what
The resources required
Timeframe
Expected output
Who must know the decision
These are measurable targets that are used to
monitor the progress.

25. Step 5: Evaluate the alternative and make the
decision.
• With the previous background the manager is in a
position to compare the alternatives and
determine the best solution. This process involves
two parts:
• Monitoring progress. This is an ongoing process
that is critical in fine tuning a course of action.
The parameters of evaluation include;
Whether the situation has changed

26. Cont.
Whether the alternative option is solution to
the problem
Whether more resources are required to solve
the problem
How will be the situation after solving the
problem?
What systems or processes should be changed
in an organization e.g. new policies,
procedures, staff etc.

27. Cont
• Evaluating the results. Evaluation is an
intervention at certain point in time. In
making an evaluation the manager can do the
following:

28. Cont.
• Use checklist to help you evaluate the
decision. This will determine whether the
proposed decision has worked or measurable.
• If yes, how?
• If no, what went wrong?

29. Cont
• In answering these questions the leader will
focus on indicators of success and whether
the goals have been realized.
• One way of verifying whether the problem has
been solved is by resuming normal operations
of the organization.

30. Ethical considerations in decision
making
• Ethics are set of standards that guide our
behaviour both as an individual and as a
member of an organization.
• Ethical components in decision making
include:
• Placing law above personal gain
• Act impartially. Do not show favourism to one
group over another.
• Be honest.

31. Components of ethics in decision
making
• Ethical commitment. This involves
demonstrating strong desire to act ethically
and to do the right thing especially when
ethics imposes financial costs.
• Ethical consciousness. Seeing and
understanding the ethical considerations of
our behaviour and their applications.

32. Cont
• Ethical competency. These are skills that are
applied in decision making process and they
include.
i) Evaluation. The ability to collect and analyse
facts
ii) Creativity. The capacity to develop
resourceful means of accomplishing goals in
ways that avoid or minimizing problems

33. Cont
• Prediction. The ability to foresee the potential
consequences of conduct and assesses the
likelihood of risk that might be caused by a
certain act.
• Managing Conflict. Conflict is a behaviour
intended to obstruct the achievement of some
other people’s goals. It is based on
incompatibility of goals and arises from
opposing behaviour.

34. Cont
• While conflict can be perceived as
dysfunctional it can be beneficial because it
may cause an issue to be presented in
different perspectives. However conflict can
be resolved using the following strategies:
• Avoidance. This avoiding situation that causes
the conflict.

35. Cont.
• Smoothing: Emphasize the areas of
agreement and common goals and de-
emphasizing disagreement.
• Forcing: Pushing one’s own view on others.
• Compromising: Agreeing in part with other
person’s view or demand.

36. Cont
• Reassigning an individual to another
organizational unit. This promotes
excitements and reduces boredom at work
place.
• Open confrontation. In problem solving
approach to organizational conflicts
differences are confronted openly and issues
are analyzed as objective as possible.

37. Cont
• Change tasks and locations. This is
rearrangement of the work place to prevent
the interaction of the conflicting parties.

38. Cont
• What are the attributes of a good decision
maker in problem solving process?

39. Attributes of effective decision
maker
• Knowledge. The most important requirement
for sound decisions in a deep understanding
of all factors. A good decision depends on how
informed is the decision maker.
• Initiative. The leader assumes the
responsibility for beginning the decision
making process and seeing through. They an
active part in making things better.

40. Cont.
• Advice seeking. Good decision makers know
that they need help from others. They identify
people who can make specific contributions to
the decision process and ask for their advice
and counsel.
• Selectivity. They seek for pertinent data. They
avoid unnecessary facts and figures.

41. Cont
• Comprehensiveness. They evaluate all available
options and consider possible alternatives so as
to make the best choice.
• Currency. They consider current conditions and
take advantage of opportunities that exist at the
time.
• Flexibility. They are open minded about new
concepts and ideas. They are willing to change
course or buy a different approach if better
results seem likely.

42. Cont.
• Good judgment. In addition to following
procedures, they exercise their best judgment in
considering the prevailing factors.
• Calculated risk taking. The risks and results of
various alternatives must be weighted and
consequences accepted whether positive or
negative. Consider cost benefit analysis of every
alternative.
• Self knowledge. They know their abilities, biases
and limitations.

43. Factors that can limit your decision making
abilities
• Failure to identify the real problem
• Failure to address the root cause
• Searching for the one right answer
• Not involving the right people
• Waiting for 100% agreement
• Fear of embarrassment or failure
• Limited resources

44. Cont
• People have natural bias to alternatives that
maintain the status quo because it can be
seen as ‘safe’ especially if the decision can
lead to punishment.
• People find it difficult to make decisions that
would proof their previous decisions wrong.
There is a tendency of making decisions that
justify the previous decisions

45. Conclusion
• ‘Nothing is more difficult, and therefore more
precious, than to be able to decide’ Napoleon
Bonaparte.
• ‘If I had one hour in which to save the world, I
would spend 55 minutes analyzing the
problem and 5 minutes finding the solution.’
Albert Einstein.

46. Cont.
• THANK YOU.