Systematic Decision Making: 4 Questions

Kenneth has 14 years of healthcare experience in government and private industry. Over eight years of experience managing healthcare IT projects, operations, contracts, and personnel. His work experience includes project management, contracts and procurements, data analysis, claims adjudication, business writing, and business process modeling. Kenneth was certified in 2006 as a Project Management Professional.

  Business Intelligence   Strategy  

When it comes to decision making on a project, the project manager should always be prepared to guide the team--and at times even the stakeholders. Being able to guide decisions means making sure that the decision-making process is a sound one, driven by standard business practices as well as a dose of good common sense.

As the leader of the project, the project manager should be able to get in front of any decisions that need to be made and provide a good perspective for the decision maker (no matter whom that happens to be). Answering the following four questions will help the project manager guide the decision-making process and not get blindsided by something completely unexpected.

Do You Have the Data?
The first question is possibly the most important. Do you have the data that is pertinent to the decision that needs to be made? Without good solid data, the decision might as well be made by flipping a coin. Any data that is pertinent should be carefully collected by the project manager. Subject matter experts should be able to review the data to make sure there are no abnormalities or discrepancies.

Data that is collected should go through multiple iterations and reviews before it is presented to a larger audience. In addition, the project manager should be very familiar with what is contained in the data, as well as what is not contained in the data. …

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