The day-to-day life of a business owner is often fast-paced, with a multitude of problems to solve and employees to answer to. This means that, when faced with a decision, entrepreneurs may not have time on their side and they may be forced to make quick decisions on the fly or with very little time to weigh out every possibility.
However, sometimes speed can equal low quality, and when it comes to solving problems that can impact not only the business, but also those who work in it, quality is key. To make quick, yet quality decisions then, the members of Young Entrepreneur Council recommend the following eight strategies.
Young Entrepreneur Council members discuss how to make quality, yet quick decisions.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.
1. Talk It Out
Have a quick conversation to go through the options in front of you, with a focus on the pros and cons of each. Hear your thoughts and make a decision! – Zane Stevens, Protea Financial
2. List Three Options And Ask Three Questions
I list out the three options that are available to me and then ask myself, “What’s the worst thing that could happen if I choose this option?” This is followed by, “What’s the best thing that could happen if I choose this option?” Finally, I ask myself, “What’s the most likely thing that will happen if I choose this option?” This technique helps me make quick decisions when time is of the essence. – Kristin Kimberly Marquet, Marquet Media, LLC
3. Go With Your Gut
Tune out and check in with your gut. Your instinct probably has an answer even if it can’t explain it to your brain and mouth yet. It’s not my style to make a call without a good reason, but in a real crunch, you may not have a choice. To ensure quality, you can cultivate rapport with a fellow leader or manager you find has good judgment. That gives you someone to check in with when the heat is on. – Tyler Bray, TK Trailer Parts
4. Start With Elimination
If I need to make a quick decision, the first thing I do is eliminate the choices I don’t want to pursue. I find that it’s much easier to exclude choices under pressure. After narrowing down my list, I look at what’s left and choose from the best options. – Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights
5. Meditate On It
My gut knows the answer based on my experience, but if I need reassurance, I’ll do a quick meditation to check that my heart, mind, spirit and body are aligned with the intended outcome. I’ll follow that up with journaling to hash out the best case, worst case and most likely scenario based on the known factors. This allows me to take calculated risks and sleep peacefully at night. – Givelle Lamano, Lamano Law Office
6. Consider Your Future Feelings
First of all, I try to remember that there’s no foolproof way to make the perfect decision, whether I spend 30 seconds or a year contemplating and researching all the data. However, if I need to decide quickly, I try to imagine each outcome and how it will make me feel a week from now. Often, I will feel a greater sense of ease with one of the options, and this is the one I go with. – Kalin Kassabov, ProTexting
7. Stick To The Facts
Sometimes, all you can do is look at the data you have in front of you. If you’re pressed to make a quick decision, base your choice on the facts, not the heat of the moment. I find that taking a few minutes to review the information we gathered gives me enough time and data to make an informed choice. – John Brackett, Smash Balloon LLC
8. Use A Coin Flip
I flip a coin—not because I am going to use the result of the coin flip, but because I am quickly shown which result I would prefer. After I figure that out, I explore why this is my preferred outcome and make sure it is aligned with my goals and move forward. There are no wrong decisions—it just depends on how quickly you correct them. – Nic DeAngelo, We Buy Loans Fast
