Business Tips
Decision making Managerial decision making isn’t a big deal, until things start to go
wrong. Margaret McNeil offers advice on how to spot problems, keep your cool, and how to decisively implement solutions
Decisions; your day is fi lled with them. Usually they are short and sweet, you know the answers, you’ve seen it before, it’s obvious. You will be good at planning and time management (that’s why you are a supervisor) so you will know what is to happen with all your teams over the next few days. Occasionally however, things don’t quite go as you expected; a vital machine breaks down, a vital delivery doesn’t arrive, a bug hits your whole team, a water main bursts and fl oods your prize beds. You know the scene. The best decisions tend to be those
that have been thought through. The normal decision-making process involves: ● Asking yourself exactly what the problem is. ● What information do you need to solve it? ● Developing options for solving the problem. ● Choosing an option and making a plan of action.
● Carrying out the plan. ● Control and monitoring of the plan. Sometimes there’s not enough time to execute this full decision-making process, it’s easy to make a bad decision when you’re under pressure. The key is not to panic (easily said, diffi cult in practice). Most of the problems we encounter at work are not life-threatening (although some may be career-threatening), so it’s worthwhile taking a few extra minutes to collect your thoughts and think things through calmly. If you can see a solution clearly, implement it
decisively. If replacement equipment is needed, get on the phone straight away. If people need relocating to a different site, get them moving. If you need to weigh up the situation, strike a pose of thoughtful calculation rather than that of a frantic ditherer. Look as though you are calm and collected even if you are stressed; you are in charge,
22 August 2013
get done on this site and how important is that today?” At least if you sort out this emergency, you have time to plan to deal with any problems you have created in the process. You may know the saying ‘don’t
make a mountain out of a molehill’; check your reactions. If you fl y into a panic when the turf is going to arrive two hours late, how are you going to cope when one of your team has an accident? This isn’t about a laissez-faire or apathetic attitude, but a realistic one. Look to the end of the week.
If it’s not done today, chances are there will be time to do it tomorrow. To be an effective leader, you will
so therefore must take control and look in control. This behaviour rubs off on the people you are with, so your team will remain clear-headed too. If your team are coming up with suggestions,
listen but don’t react immediately. They are trying to help even if what they propose isn’t quite right. Perhaps a mixture of what is being offered is what you are looking for. Think of ‘what if’ scenarios. This means asking
yourself, “what if I sent the whole team to the other site to help sort out the problem? What would be the implications? Well, work wouldn’t
ABOUT MARGARET MCNEIL
Margaret McNeil is from OnSite Training UK. Whilst lecturing at a horticultural college, she spotted an opportunity to offer fl exible learning to horticulturalists and started OnSite Training UK with Roger Clarke. Since then over 1,000 landscapers have qualifi ed through them. Their Lamport Gardening Academy launched on 2 February 2013.
www.onsitetraininguk.co.uk
www.prolandscapermagazine.com
need to make reactive decisions on many occasions. Where the decision is not a matter of life or death, give yourself a little breathing space, give your team direction and act with conviction. After the event, it’s time to contemplate. What could you have done better? Did you react appropriately? Is there someone you need to thank for helping you out of a sticky situation? Do you need to tell anyone what happened?
As a manager or supervisor, you should
always be looking to learn and improve. Watch, listen and have confi dence in yourself and your team. I wish you all the best of luck.
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