Overcoming Barriers to Decisiveness

Being decisive means being able to take prompt action while also taking into consideration the demands of the situation and the potential consequences of that action.

hat does it mean to be decisive?

Clearly it involves the capacity to decide things, but what else?

Being decisive means being able to take prompt action while also taking into consideration the demands of the situation and the potential consequences of that action. Making strong decisions is facilitated by following four simple steps:

1. Set an objective.
2. Create options.
3. Assess these options.
4. Choose the best of these options.

People who are decisive are generally realistic, self-confident, and action-oriented. However, even if you have these traits, and know how to follow the decision-making process, there may be times when you encounter some of the common barriers to decisiveness.

Procrastination is the tendency to find excuses to put off making choices. Fear of making the wrong decision is another barrier. This may drive you to obsess over a decision or dwell too much on outcomes you can't control, rather than on making the best decision possible in the circumstances. Finally, while you need information to make a decision, you have to beware of information overload, which is a final barrier to decisiveness.

Over the next week, we shall discuss the methods for overcoming these barriers to decisiveness. By learning how to motivate yourself and get rid of excuses, you can resist the urge to postpone decisions. Understanding what you can and cannot control is helpful to overcome fear of making decisions. Finally, we shall also discuss how to guard against information overload and recognize signs of it.

I have been teaching and training agents, team leaders, supervisors, managers and admins of call centers and other businesses in BPO related fields. This series, comes as a result of that experience. I have more than 4,000 modules that I plan on sharing here. This is # 005-01