The art of management is the greatest of arts. And although it seems to many people that they know everything better than anyone and could change the lives of others, and make the company's work more efficient, in fact, the ability to manage is a rather rare gift. And like any rare gift, effective management is difficult to analyze. Each senior manager has his own management secrets, which he does not particularly seek to share with others. Despite this, over the centuries of human history and the decades of the existence of management as a science, classical methods of decision making in management have been formed, on which each manager has to rely.
The easiest decision-making method is to make a decision by analogy. That is, the manager analyzes the events that took place in the past, finds a similar situation that has been successfully resolved, and makes a similar decision. This method, by the way, has been actively used and is still being used by English judges in sentencing. The disadvantage of this method is that it does not allow to achieve a truly effective result, since it does not take into account the features of the modern environment. Therefore, the most important strategic decisions in management never accepted using this method.
Relatively similar is the method of expert assessments. Only in this case, the decision is not based on historical facts, but on the personal experience of the person responsible for making the decision. The decision in this case can be risky and risk-free. The first option assumes that the expert is a kind of player who is trying to determine the best option, taking into account possible losses and possible profits. Without a share of risk, as you know, few people succeeded. In the daily affairs of the company, however, there is no need for risk, therefore, experts are trying to make the most effective and safe decision.
More sophisticated management decision-making methods suggest the compilation of models. Modeling is necessary to address key issues that are critical to the development of the company. A group of experts are working on a variety of options for resolving the situation, and based on the results obtained, a definite conclusion is made. The way to choose the optimal solution is dictated by the situation. In certain cases, it is taken on the basis of economic benefits, in others - on the basis of indicators of qualitative growth, etc.
If the classic decision-making methods in management do not bear fruit, many modern leaders turn to brainstorming, i.e. solving complex problems by collective efforts. In this case, the decision is made after analyzing all the ideas that were put forward by the members of the group for a limited period of time. The best idea is taken as a basis in the future.
The methods discussed are suitable for making managerial decisions, however, when it comes to relationships within the team, conflict management methods are usually used, based on psychology. A true leader should be not only an intelligent and talented person, but also a good psychologist. Depending on the situation, he must choose between dodging, smoothing, coercion, and compromise.
The above decision-making methods in management, almost completely cover the entire theoretical part devoted to this topic, but in real life, of course, they cannot be found in pure form. Decision making is a dynamic process, although based on theory, but more dependent on the specific situation and the specific team.