We take millions of decisions, conscious and unconscious, every day, from easy ones such as putting one foot in front of the other one when we walk, reaching out to grab a cup of coffee, deciding to say hi to someone, to more complex ones such as choosing a franchise location or selecting franchisees.
The level of complexity of most situations and decisions in business is significantly higher, as well as the level of consciousness and cognition in business decision making. The more complex and conscious a decision is, the more likely it is to have a significant impact on the franchise network. So, how do we make sure we make the right decision? While there is no magic recipe, fortunately there are ways to optimize our decision-making process.
Memory and Effective Decision Making
First and foremost, our memory is a powerful tool. Information about decisions made is stored and used for future decisions, which means that our memory influences our decision-making process. The brain remembers that in a certain context our decision X led to the result Z. If the decision we took resulted in success, we subconsciously remember that.
Each decision helps create neural pathways in the brain, which will be subsequently used to support our judgment and decision-making tasks. As our decisions become more effective, we grow better, more skilled at making them. It is a trial and error principle. The brain continuously assesses and calculates the value of the decisions it makes. It builds an experience database, which improves the accuracy of predictions when it comes to evaluating the outcome of a certain decision. So, whenever the brain receives an error message, which means that the decision was incorrect, it would try a different behavioral pattern. The brain learns from its experience in order to speed up the decision-making process and to bring it to the level of automatism, even reflex. For example, if we get burnt once, the brain remembers that touching a hot surface would likely result in a burn. There is no need to touch a hot stovetop every time to see that it is painful. And what is even better, there is no energy spent on the decision not to touch it as our reflex prevents us from doing it.
It is important for the leaders who work in collaboration with the franchisor to become effective decision-makers to cut costs associated with poor time management and avoidable mistakes. Moreover, many decisions have a significant impact on the franchisor and on the entire network.
Key Decision-Making Challenges for Franchisors
Our decision-making process is quite complex and goes beyond repetitive tasks. Our emotional involvement, the context, social data are just some of the factors that affect our judgments and decisions. In addition, we are facing other challenges that make our decision-making process even more complex:
In short, decisions are obviously complex and energy-consuming. Given the impact they may have on the profitability of the franchise network, it becomes important to develop the skills of your leaders and to implement the right tools to improve the process.
Part 2 of this article, available in October, will give you several tricks and tips for effective decision making! Stay tuned!
Sylvie Grégoire, MBA, CRHA, Certificate in NeuroLeadership
President of FlagFranchise and Totem Performance organisationnelle
