The Importance of Decision Making for Managers
With regard to the top-level management, the importance of decision-making at this level is crucial as they set the organization’s goals, control policies, and are responsible for selecting the most qualified managers to implement strategies. The middle-level management, which also belongs to the executory level, is responsible for the arrangement and guidance, including employment and training, of the low-level management. Moreover, they control the fulfillment of the company’s plans according to policies that were set at the administrative level and organize the departments’ work. The low-level managers direct, train and supervise operative employees and bring the fundamental problems of the firm to the higher-level management.
Without taking into account their opinion and knowledge about how employees work, it is impossible to make global decisions. Their decisions are reflected directly on employees and on the company’s efficiency. Thus, it can be said that the higher the organization’s level of management, the more complex the decision-making process. Furthermore, making global decisions regarding the strategy of a business organization is impractical without taking into account decisions that are made at lower levels because they take into account the needs of operative workers.
The Change Which Could Happen in Decision Making Due to COVID-19
The pandemic has caused a rapidly changing environment, economic crisis, and unforeseeable government decisions. It has become more difficult to predict any consequences and, as a result, to build long-term strategies. An uncertain environment forces companies not to postpone decisions in order to find more information but to make quick choices. Many companies have sent their employees to work from home, and many have ceased operations. This led to the development of new methods of interaction and new strategies for decision-making.
Firstly, the increase in risks as a result of COVID-19, remote working, and the need to convey information immediately to the various levels of management gave rise to the development of digital communication tools. These instruments help to access necessary data faster and bring it to the specialists that can interpret the information. Hence, the decision-making process became quicker and more effective. Secondly, the technologies that were developed within the pandemic proved that people have not to be in the same physical space to work together.
Organizations got the opportunity to include in the decision-making process external experts and resources to which they did not have access before. One more change relates to the levels of management: top managers focus primarily on strategies to adapt the business to new conditions, while lower-level administrators concentrate on everyday operations. Moreover, the pandemic showed that with the use of a flexible schedule, the productivity of employees could be increased. In other terms, the satisfaction of their preferences affects the effectiveness of the organization directly.
Consequently, after changes related to the pandemic, the decision-making process is more likely to take into account the needs and abilities of individual employees. Remote work and the general stressful situation in the world actualize the need to include in the decision-making process concern for the psychological state of employees. Maintaining a favorable atmosphere among the work collective, even in current conditions, is an essential requirement for employees’ productivity and, as a result, for the entire company’s efficiency.
