All talk, no action? Good ideas, but no results? Not the results that you are wishing for? A common problem is a lack of clarity and action commitments.
I see a lot of decisions that never turn into results. I know people mean well, but making things happen takes more than just desire. It takes action. The challenge with turning decisions into action, is understanding the work required. If you don’t break your decisions down into effective actions don’t expect results.
How to best tackle these issues? Over the years I have identified a series of steps that have helped many of my coaching clients make the shift.
'Remember, a real decision is measured by the fact that you’ve taken new action. If there’s no action, you haven’t truly decided.' — Tony Robbins
Turning decisions into effective actions requires thoughtful work assignments and action commitments. Whatever you want to change, influence or achieve you will need to clearly identify:
a. The choices available to you
b. Recognize what can be done and what cannot
c. And most importantly commit to Action!
Whatever the issue, the key process is the same. To create a constructive environment for successful decision making make sure you start with the following:
1. Starting the Process:
• Establish the objective - Define what you want to achieve.
• Agree on the process - Know how the final decision will be made, including whether it will be an individual or a team-based decision.
• Make sure you're asking the right question – Spend time asking yourself what is the true issue
2. Generating Good Alternatives = Choices
This step is critical to making an effective decision. The more good options you consider, the more comprehensive your final decision will be.
• When you generate alternatives, you force yourself to dig deeper, and look at the problem from different angles.
• If you use the mindset ‘there must be other solutions out there,' you're more likely to make the best decision possible.
• If you don't have reasonable alternatives, then there's really not much of a decision to make!
3. Generating Ideas = What can be done and what cannot
Brainstorming is probably the most popular method of generating ideas. Ask colleagues, friends or partners to participate and provide input. Keep an open mind and explore all the possible choices and consequences. It helps to write everything down and then take a break if you can to reflect.
4. Choosing the Best Alternative
After you have evaluated the alternatives, the next step is to choose between them. The choice may be obvious. However, if it isn't, then identifying the root of the problem will help you. This strategy involves looking at any problem and asking: 'What is the cause of this problem?' and 'Am I part of the cause or the solution?'
5. Turn decisions into action commitments.
Actions speak louder than words. Knowing what to do is not the same as doing what you know.
• What action has to be taken and who has to take it?
• What does the action have to be so that the people who have to do it can do it? That also includes YOU.
• Get the right people for the actions required. The key is to have the right people doing the right things to get the right results.
• Support the action people. Know what actions need to be taken to be successful and support them.
Keep in mind that Decisions will Not be Effective Without Action Commitments. What looks good on paper or sounds good, may not work when you actually test it. If you see that it doesn’t work then look again.
Those are some of the key steps. And if you feel that a few coaching sessions would be helpful to master the process then send me an email at christiane@christianepohl.com. I would be happy to support and guide you.
With my best wishes for your success!
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