Project Decision-making

Is Plan Decision-making the Missing Process?

David Kershaw
VP, Cloud Services Altova GmbH

Do teams think about decision-making?

They tell us what to do.
That guy makes all the decisions.

Were not good at decisions

Everyone has an equal vote!

What do they mean?

Those are patterns of decision-making

Often called styles, modes, or models

Every team uses at least one of them Some are technical. Most are not.
They should plan decision-making!

Why do we bother identifying patterns of decision-making?

Were wasting time here!

Because decision-making is complex, expensive & failure-prone!

Darn it. Bad decision!

For example

A decision may go through layers of decision-making techniques before it is resolved.

$$
Decision-making always costs a lot of money, regardless of the result.
Team members
Average hourly rate Decisions per week Minutes per decision

5
$60 6 20

What if

Team decisions hours per week

$ per week Decision-making $ per year

2
$500 $25,000

Decisions fail in many ways:

Error in problem identification

Missed or specious options

Error in analysis Poor participation Poor commitment to resolution Results in team-impairing conflict Error in implementation
$#%@&?!!

Back to decision models

How do I handle this?

Decision models may describe:

Stages of activity

Techniques of analysis
Actors involvement

Inputs required
Rules for moving through stages

Models typically focus most on either:

Effectiveness
Participation Commitment

Or

Correctness
Best alternatives Rational analysis

When this is the case the PM needs to integrate both aspects

There are many decision models

Intuitively boiled frogs Scientific / academic rigor

Unstructured

Structured

Analytical

They range from simple to exacting

So many models, so little time

Simple 3-options style Structured decision-making. 2. Decision-making roles and rights. 2.
A few places to start

Overviews of some analytical factors. 2. 3.

The Analytical Hierarchy Process. 1. 2. Team decision-making model choices Etc. etc.

Unfortunately for PMs the PMBOK is weak on decision-making

Appendix G. Section 6 addresses decision-making directly. It very briefly lists 4 general decisionmaking styles based on 4 factors. The PMBOK also notes in passing that:
Communication planning should include time for decision-making

High performance is encouraged by collaborative decision-making

Anyone in a decision-making role is a stakeholder Performance reports are used for decision-making Effective decision-making is a component of Interpersonal Skills, a tool or technique of the Manage Project Team process Decision-making Authority Levels are an Organizational Process Asset input to Plan Risk Management Decision Sciences techniques are used in risk management (e.g. decision-trees) and quality control (e.g. control charts)

So, how would you plan decision-making?

Risk register Decision register

RAM

Inputs?

Plan Decisionmaking

Outputs?

Decision Mgmt. plan

Decision log

Scope Baseline RAM

updated

Catalog similar decisions together

By person responsible & participation By dates and workflow By the need for criteria or voting
The screenshots are from MetaTeam

Consider the ranking factors

Time sensitivity Cost of being wrong Impact on other decisions Measurable outcome

Align decisions with work and roles

Decisions need a reason for being Tie to roles for implementation Track implementation tasks

Above all, plan to keep full information!

For traceability and implementation To resolve disputes To learn and improve

Learn more @ http://metateam.net

Thank you!
David Kershaw
VP, Cloud Services Altova GmbH http://metateam.net