Factors Contributing to Delayed Decision-Making

According to data from The Wall Street Journal, we make an average of 35,000 decisions a day. Within organizations, decisions are the fundamental drivers of change, whether positive or negative, and all management or operational strategies are based on a single fundamental decision.

Are we giving institutional decision-making the attention it deserves? After all, the decision-making process is continuous, combining knowledge, skills, and experience, and must be constantly refined, with its risks analyzed so that problems are solved (or avoided) in the best possible way. Ultimately, it's your decisions, not your conditions, that determine your destiny or the destiny of your organization.

And do you know what the main factors are that contribute to incorrect, delayed, or ineffective decision-making? 

Below, we list the 7 main obstacles to effective decision-making:

• Not having all the necessary information to clearly analyze the situation.
• Not taking into account the problems, challenges, and opportunities involved in a decision.
• Not identifying possible solutions for the analyzed problems.
• Not calmly evaluating all alternatives.
• Not selecting one of the proposed solutions based on studies and research.
• Delaying the implementation of the most effective option.
• Not evaluating and monitoring the impacts of the decision made.

Overall, decisions need to be guided by data-driven analyses, timing, and risk management, and it becomes increasingly natural to follow this path when the process is carried out continuously and consciously. The absence of the factors listed above can contribute to delayed or ineffective decision-making.

Also learn how an outdated ERP negatively impacts employee performance in this other blog article.

Below are some examples of decision-making that can be both important and complex, often determining a medium- to long-term path for an institution. How do you know what is necessary? See some examples below:

Cost cutting: evaluate all possibilities for the company and the impact each option to be removed might cause. Often, cost cutting can generate even more collateral costs if not done through a correct analysis.

Naming a product: an example of an action that can be done as a team, you can schedule a brainstorming session to generate ideas, and in this case, the more minds, the better!

Changing prices: gathering information on market prices, production costs, and conducting customer surveys would help you understand how this change would affect you.

Choosing a project manager: consider the leadership potential of different team members, evaluate behavioral profiles, strengths and weaknesses related to project goals, and how the team would receive this new member.

Continuing or discontinuing investment in customer service team training: conduct periodic customer satisfaction surveys to see if this type of action is improving after-sales service, and validate with the team to understand the level

Expanding sales coverage: with a detailed list of different regions and demands, it's possible to analyze the best one to establish yourself in.

So how do you make the "right" decisions, after all?

Making a decision after the company has already felt the impact might not be effective, but acting precipitously isn't beneficial either. Therefore, it's crucial that the decision is made at the exact right moment: neither too early nor too late. Poor timing is a mistake that must be avoided at all costs.

Real-time data monitoring through management software (like our SAP S/4HANA) prevents decisions from being made at the wrong time, as it allows for much more effective control over any situation and, consequently, helps find the best moment and qualified, real-time information to act.

In other situations, however, it is highly beneficial to consider the company's future and how a particular decision might impact it down the line. This thought process typically involves future analysis: although implementing S/4HANA requires a project, it is an action with a high cost-benefit ratio and enormous potential for future company improvement. Thus, implementing this type of software is considered a long-term decision that brings many benefits. Currently, with software-driven conversions, project cost and time are significantly reduced, bringing even more gains to this process.

It's important for your company to also be agile, keeping pace with the development of its industry. An applicable example involves financial sector decisions; without an analytical view of cash flow, which allows for graphical analysis and managerial insight into the flow to minimize financial loss, you could be losing 10% to 30% in revenue leakage without even knowing it.

Read more about the main consequences of a lack of systemic vision in your operation.

To conclude, here's a great tip to help you explore the topic further:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mLQFm3wEfw

(Turn on Portuguese subtitles!)

We hope this was helpful, and now that we're ready, #let's make great decisions together. 

There's no time to lose!
Keep an eye out, as the End of SAP Enterprise Support approaches every year, and it affects your company more than you might imagine. Click the button below to read more about:

About the End of SAP Enterprise Support

‍