Effective Decision Making
Program Details
About the Program
A leader’s ability to make sound decisions can significantly affect their ability to create value for their organization as well as impact their career trajectory. History is full of leaders making brilliant and disastrous decisions. A great decision at the right time can lead to competitive advantage or positive customer impact, while a poor or late decision can create marketplace disappointment and internal dysfunction. Additionally, competitors keenly observe decisions that are made and work to capitalize on any missteps. Understanding when and how to make decisions is an immensely valuable leadership skill – knowing how to gather information from others, what data is available, and when enough information has been gathered and processed to move forward is critical. Pitfalls abound, including; waiting too long, hearing only what one wants to hear, analysis paralysis, getting derailed by bias, as well as trusting only one’s gut instinct.
Experience & Results
By implementing intentional and research-backed techniques, leaders can improve their ability to make value-add, quality decisions at the right time. During this interactive, two-day course, Professor Nathan Kuncel shares actionable and practical techniques for sound decision making, including the science behind why these techniques are effective. Participants will gain insight into anchoring and bias, group decision making, and balancing data with human judgment. The course will include small and large group discussions and interactive activities.
Group exercises and discussions will explore why groups generally discuss information that is common to all present and not explore the unique, valuable insights that only one member may be privy to. Participants will learn how to draw this information out and why this is critical to do. Participants will also explore the benefits of artificial intelligence, and how to thoughtfully integrate those insights into decision making processes.
Participants will take an assessment regarding their decision making styles and will receive feedback on their individual inclinations as well as information on how they compare to other Upper Midwest executives at their level. The course will conclude with an interactive simulation, which will pull together concepts learned throughout the two-day program. Participants will return to work with a decision checklist and other templates that can be used to help make important decisions rigorously.
Learn how you can customize this program for your organization.
Program Contact
- Email: croeckle@umn.edu
- Phone: 612-625-5412
- REQUEST COURSE CATALOG
Who Should Take This Course & Why
- Managers
- Directors
- VPs
- C-Suite
- Learn proven, actionable, and practical techniques to improve decision making quality
- Understand the common individual and group decision biases and what can be done to minimize their impact
- Learn and practice group decision making approaches that can lead to more informed decision making
- Explore how data can be used to inform human judgment and the limitations of both
- Discover how data can be visually represented to convince as well as to deceive
- Receive feedback on your individual decision style and how it relates to decision quality
- Learn to elicit and not stifle creative ideas and decision making
- Receive tools and frameworks that can be applied to enhance decision making
Schedule
Session Overview
- Recognizing Individual Biases: Learn when decision biases are likely to occur and how to overcome them including the influence of survivorship bias, the anchoring effect, and overconfidence.
Session Overview
- Recognizing Group Biases: Discover why groups are prone to many errors including risky shifts and failures to share information. Two approaches to producing better group decisions will be presented and practiced.
- Creative Decision Making: Explore why most meetings do not encourage creative processes. Learn and practice a method to improve creative decision making.
Session Overview
- Integrating Opinions: Uncover why leaders are often given varying opinions and discuss how to get the most from team members.
- Data in Decision Making: Learn how to incorporate hard data with other information in making decisions.
Session Overview
- Communicating with Visual Displays: Discover how visuals can be utilized to convince as well as to deceive. Recognize the most deceptive graphical formats and develop good taste to guide informing others.
- Decision Making Styles: Gain some self-insight into how your decision making preferences align with other executives.
- Decision Making Simulation: Practice effective decision making approaches.
Session Overview
- Recognizing Individual Biases: Learn when decision biases are likely to occur and how to overcome them including the influence of survivorship bias, the anchoring effect, and overconfidence.
Session Overview
- Recognizing Group Biases: Discover why groups are prone to many errors including risky shifts and failures to share information. Two approaches to producing better group decisions will be presented and practiced.
- Creative Decision Making: Explore why most meetings do not encourage creative processes. Learn and practice a method to improve creative decision making.
Session Overview
- Integrating Opinions: Uncover why leaders are often given varying opinions and discuss how to get the most from team members.
- Data in Decision Making: Learn how to incorporate hard data with other information in making decisions.
Session Overview
- Communicating with Visual Displays: Discover how visuals can be utilized to convince as well as to deceive. Recognize the most deceptive graphical formats and develop good taste to guide informing others.
- Decision Making Styles: Gain some self-insight into how your decision making preferences align with other executives.
- Decision Making Simulation: Practice effective decision making approaches.
Faculty
