Decision-Making: A skill you can’t live without as a manager

Manager – AKA the most responsible person in the team. Isn’t it? A manager carries a load of numerous responsibilities on their back. While it may be hard to define their job precisely, a few essential duties are central to the role of a manager, including coordinating functions and generating efficiency. Their role requires them to be effective at many different tasks, which need mastery of multiple skills. In today’s iteration of The Top newsletter, we will discuss one such central skill of a manager – decision-making.  #Managers and #leaders are responsible figures in the workplace. Undoubtedly, this responsibility arrives due to their proven expertise and long experience, enabling them to carry out their jobs effectively. Among their key goals is leading their teams to ensure they reach their full potential. 

Besides, managers are also responsible for ensuring that their team members are motivated and engaged at their jobs. In this journey, they also have to focus on personal and professional development avenues for all of them. Building successful teams is not just about making changes with the existing team members; it includes other responsibilities, such as hiring the right people and organizing the workflow.  We can see that the responsibilities of a manager do not follow a set template. Different tasks require them to take up different roles, where one skill may shine over the rest. As such, we can understand that leadership is a function of the situation, i.e., leadership is situational. It means that managers adapt to circumstances as and when they change.  Instead of adopting a fixed demeanor, a manager who practices situational leadership molds their leadership style as per need. For instance, if they are handling a new team member who, although high on motivation and willing to learn, lacks experience and experience, then they can adopt a coaching leadership style. It will allow them to guide the new employee into their role and help them achieve their full potential.  Situational leadership can bring many benefits to the team itself. However, there are many facets within this one leadership style too. You can read more about it here. 

So far, we have understood that effective leadership requires a manager to change their style a lot. Such an adaptable method – called situational leadership style – can be effectively used only when the manager focuses on some critical skills, including decision-making. Decision-making is particularly important for picking the right leadership approach with your teams, as it becomes the basis of all your further actions. Hence, you should strive to build top-notch decision-making skills to succeed as a manager.  Managers who are influential decision-makers typically develop frameworks to increase the speed and quality of their process. They also attempt to create a balance of objective data and intuitions to arrive at logically and emotionally sound decisions. A lot is dependent on a good decision. It provides a critical foundation for the team’s growth and development. Not only that, managers who are good decision-makers are often more efficient and successful than their peers. Are your decisions helping you stand out? Check now with this free decision-making self-assessment.  Risely’s free decision-making self-assessment helps managers and leaders accurately assess their decision-making abilities. After taking this assessment, you can identify the weaknesses in your decision-making process that have reduced your efficiency. Not only that, but it also helps you refine so that you can climb ladders of personal and professional growth effortlessly. 

The difference brought by sound decision-making skills in the manager’s effectiveness is crucial. It not only helps them make better decisions, but it also helps them in laying the foundation for achieving their vision progressively. Hence, although the skills of a manager grow, everyone, including their team and organization, shares the benefits.  In this way, the growth of a manager always becomes a catalyst for change in their team. They can pull their teams through hurdles by developing the skills critical for their personal and professional rise. Therefore, the skill development of a manager is vital for all stakeholders.  Decision-making is one of many skills that managers need to focus on. Apart from this, they should also develop the habit of active listening, improve their ability with constructive feedback, and conduct great one-on-one meetings with their teams to effectively carry out all their responsibilities.  #leadership #leadershipevelopment #managerdevelopment #managereffectiveness #decisionmakingskills