Decision Making Skills in Project Management

There are four basic decision styles normally used by project managers: command, consultation, consensus, and coin flip (random).

There are four major factors that affect the decision style: time constraint, trust, quality, and acceptance. Project managers may make decisions individually, or they may involve the project team in the decision-making process.

Project managers and project teams sometimes use a decision-making model or process such as the six-phase model shown below.

1. Problem Definition - Fully explore, clarify, and define the problem.
2. Problem Solution Generation - Prolong the new idea generating process by brainstorming multiple solutions and discouraging premature decisions.
3. Ideas to Action - Define evaluation criteria, rate pros and cons of alternatives, select best solution.
4. Solution Action Planning - Involve key participants to gain acceptance and commitment to making the solution work.
5. Solution Evaluation Planning - Post implementation analysis, evaluation, and lesson learned.
6. Evaluation of the Outcome and Process - Evaluate how well the problem was solved or project goals were achieved (extension of previous phase).