This gets away from the trap of seeing "both sides of the situation" and limiting one's alternatives to two opposing choices (i.e., either this or that). Consider as many as solutions as possible - five or more in most cases, three at the barest minimum. The key to this step is to not limit yourself to obvious alternatives or merely what has worked in the past. Step 3: Identify available alternative solutions to the problem Such resources are critical for determining parameters, generating solutions, clarifying priorities and providing support, both while implementing the solution and dealing with the repercussions of the solution.
Resources can include people (i.e., a mentor, coworkers, external colleagues, or friends and family) as well professional guidelines and organizational policies and codes. Once the problem is defined, it is critical to search out resources that may be of assistance in making the decision. Step 2: Seek out relevant assistance, guidance and support How you define the problem determines where you go to look for alternatives/solutions- so define the problem carefully. There is no way that the eventual solution could have been reached if, for example, the problem had been defined as "too few elevators." The real-life decision makers defined the problem as "people complaining about having to wait." Their solution was to make the wait less frustrating by piping music into the elevator lobbies. Encourage employees to use the stairs - so fewer people use the elevators.Improved elevator maintenance - so each elevator is more efficient.More elevators - so that overall carrying capacity can be increased.Better elevator controls - so each elevator is used more efficiently.Elevator banks - so each elevator only stops on certain floors, increasing efficiency.Bigger elevators - so each elevator can carry more people per trip.Faster elevators - so each elevator can carry more people in a given time period.Flexible hours - so all the tenants' employees are not at the elevators at the same time.Many possible solutions exist, and all are predicated on a particular understanding the problem: By defining the problem in terms of outcomes, you can clearly state the problem.Ĭonsider this example: Tenants at an older office building are complaining that their employees are getting angry and frustrated because there is always a long delay getting an elevator to the lobby at rush hour. How you define a problem shapes your understanding of its causes and where you will search for solutions.įirst, explore the difference between what you expect and/or desire and the current reality. The most significant step in any decision-making process is to determine why a decision is called for and identify the desired outcome(s). Why do organizations need ethical decision making? See our special edition case study, #RespectAtWork, to find out. Descriptive (detailing how ethical decision are made naturally) rather than prescriptive (defining unnatural ways of making choices).Simple and straightforward enough to be easily integrated into every employee's thought processes.Fundamentally sound based on current theories and understandings of both decision-making processes and ethics.The decision making process described below has been carefully constructed to be: For the decision maker to be confident in the decision's soundness, every decision should be tested against the organization's policies and values, applicable laws and regulations as well as the individual employee's definition of what is right, fair, good and acceptable.Organizations cannot function effectively if employees are not empowered to make decisions consistent with their positions and responsibilities. Every employee is called upon to make decisions in the normal course of doing his/her job.Such a model must take into account two realities: Organizations struggle to develop a simple set of guidelines that makes it easier for individual employees, regardless of position or level, to be confident that his/her decisions meet all of the competing standards for effective and ethical decision-making used by the organization.
Step 7: Evaluate the decision (consult PLUS filters) Step 4: Evaluate the alternatives (consult PLUS filters) Step 2: Seek out relevant assistance, guidance and support Step 1: Define the problem (consult PLUS filters) Leadership Professional in Ethics & Compliance Certification (LPEC).