Project Based Problem Solving and Decision Making

9Decision-Making Concepts

9.0 Decision-Making Alternatives

Today, project teams are faced with difficult-to-solve problems that are based upon increasing levels of complexity. Years ago, project managers were expected to use judgment, bargaining, or analytical approaches to solve problems. Judgment was performed by decision-makers that trusted their own intuition and did not feel the need of justifying their reasoning to the team or even governance personnel. Bargaining was used when project managers were unsure of the best approach and used a team consensus to reach a decision. The team consensus also included input and influence from powerful stakeholders. Analytics were used if time permitted and if the organization had decision-making software available. Analytics were often avoided on projects that were highly complex and with a great deal of risk and uncertainty.

Over the years, sponsors and governance committees provided project teams with a great deal of authority to make their own decisions without senior management's involvement. As the paperwork and information requirements for decision-making increased, senior management was reluctant to spend a great deal of time reading through the documentation and evaluating the information for most project decisions as it was taking time away from their other responsibilities.

Project teams today have several approaches available to them for problem solving and decision-making. Some of the new techniques come from management ...