Taking a Mindful Approach to Business Decisions
Mindfulness is a fairly new concept to business decision making practices. Initially, it was not met with open arms and understanding by people and students introduced to this way of making decisions. However, over the past five years or so, the concept has grown, and more and more businesses have not only heard about mindfulness business decision making, but have also put it into practice by offering mindfulness training and education for their employees.
In addition, it can now be found in corporate manuals that provide detailed instruction on topics like how to negotiate effectively or be a good leader, as well as other areas where decision making is vital to business operations. Mindfulness helps people reach conclusions to make important business decisions.
However, it goes much further than simply saying “yes” or “no.” It also helps people identify, assess, implement, and make decisions based upon a process of determining the most appropriate actions to take for their company. When faced with a complex decision, consider the following steps to take a mindful approach in making a decision:
- Look and Listen – Take a moment to step back and evaluate whether the decision is going to align with the business. In some cases, if you are being proactive, you might identify there is no need to make a decision right now.
- Gather and Research Information – Good decisions are the result of taking the time to collect, review, and process information related to the decision. Keep in mind, quality over quantity is often better, and when faced with unknowns be objective to access any uncertainties.
- Ask for Help – Whether it is assistance in gathering information or support to help put together the data into a useful format, never hesitate to ask your employees and co-workers for help. Plus, they may provide additional insight you overlooked.
- Pause Before Making a Decision – After you have identified a decision needs to be made, researched the information, and prepared a process to implement the decision, sleep on it before rolling it out, or spend a weekend relaxing and away from all business activities. Sometimes after a restful night’s sleep or weekend away you will realize the decision you are about to implement has flaws or could stand for some improvements.
- Gather Feedback – After implementing new processes, it is beneficial to get feedback from those affected by the decision. If they tell you there are issues, concerns, or other problems with the new processes, you should not ignore them, but take steps to address and resolve them as quickly as possible.
By using the mindfulness approach to decision making, you could discover you are making better decisions for a more productive and successful business. For all of your work apparel and work uniforms, feel free to contact Prudential Overall Supply at (800) 767-5536 to speak to a representative today to learn about our rental, lease, and purchase programs.