Decision Making Grid

Description

Although you will always want to gather the requisite amount of information before making a decision there are time when several options still exist. The Selection Grid is a method for selecting one option from several.

When you’ve got several alternatives to choose from the Selection Grid provides a quick way of making a choice based on selected preferences. In discussing the criteria to be used in the decision, it also provides a means of deciding what are the important criteria.

Objectives

• To select a problem to work on from a list of several problems

• To decide on a possible solution from a list of solutions

• To identify important criteria for making choices between problems or solutions.

Guidance

The construction of a Selection Grid consists of two distinct operations—the determination of the criteria to be used, and the completion and evaluation of it. The criteria for the decision can often be common for a number of issues. Decision-making criteria should not be chosen with the options already in mind. Some examples of criteria often used follows:

• Benefit

• Ease to solve or to implement

• Time needed to solve or to implement

• Resources needed to solve or to implement

• Cost

• Probability of success

• Knowledge required to solve or to implement

• Personal preference

• Likelihood of support.

Getting Started

1. Select a work problem or decision that needs to be made from a list.

2. Determine five or six controlling criteria for the decision—what is important in making the choice, for example, benefit, ease, time, resources needed, cost, probability of success, knowledge required, personal preference, management support, etc.

3. Identify the options. The Selection Grid process works best when there are no more than eight options being considered at any one time. If you or a group has more than you may repeat the Selection Grid several times, using the leading scores from each pass as the benchmarks to compare other options.

4. Complete the grid with the criteria listed along the top and the options down the side. If fewer than six criteria or eight options have been identified at steps 1 and 2, then leave the extra rows or columns blank.

5. Consider each option against the criteria and allocate points on a scale of one (low) to five (high).

6. After you have calculated the scores record the points on the grid.

7. Add the individual scores in each box in the grid together. The boxes in the grid are then added across to give a total against each option.

8. The final grid totals will give a score that can then be used to help in the selection or discussion to select the best option.

Selection Grid