Decision Making Deep Dive Survey
Use the Decision Making Deep Dive survey to understand if people feel they consistent and aligned in your organisation.
When to use this survey
• If another survey showed this as an area for improvement
• When planning a strategic shift in your organisation
• If you’ve had a change in leadership
• If you have encountered a low Decision Making Score in your Organisational Fitness matrix
How the survey is scored
This Deep Dive survey addresses four criteria of Decision Making:
- Consistent,
- Aligned,
- Simple, and
- Balanced
By listening to your employees along these key dimensions, you will be able to uncover the detailed specifics of decision making-related issues in your organisation.
Asking 12 questions on a 5-point Likert scale, from strongly agree to strongly disagree, this Deep Dive first finds each survey respondents’ total score. This is based on the proportion of positive answers (‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’). Combining these scores, the average over all respondents is calculated, deriving the overall Decision Making score.
This survey also contains four open-text questions, to understand and add context to the scores and support your findings.
Introductory Text
In this survey, we’ll ask you about 4 core areas of decision making - from how we make decisions to whether those decisions are aligned with {our organisation}’s strategy. This will help us understand the working experience within {our organisation} and guide our next steps - with the aim of making {our organisation} a better place to work.
Consistent
The Consistent dimension of Decision Making explores how your organisation makes decisions, and if your decision making is process-led, well-informed, and in the hands of the right people.
The Consistent dimension is made up of the indicators: Process & Procedure, Right Person, Reliable and an open-text question.
| Indicator | Question | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Process & Procedure | When we make decisions, we are guided by clear process and structure. | There is a clear decision making process in the organisation that is widely used. |
| Right Person | Decisions are made by the right person with appropriate experience and information. | Asked in order to gauge whether decisions are made at the right level in the organisation. |
| Reliable | Decisions are consistent, we rarely make two decisions that contradict or undermine one another. | Asked in order to test the level of consistency in decisions that are made. |
| Open Text | Think of a decision that was made recently. Please describe the process for arriving at this decision? | Asked in order to further information and insight into the decision making process. |
Aligned
The Aligned dimension of Decision Making explores how your decisions aligned with your organisation’s strategy. Is decision making coordinated across teams, and led by our broader values and vision?
The Aligned dimension is made up of the indicators: Coordinated, Consistent, Revised and an open-text question.
| Indicator | Question | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Coordinated | When teams make decisions, they share them with the rest of {our organisation}. | Each team across the organisation is kept up to date on decisions that are made in other teams, there are no silos. |
| Consistent | {Our organisation} makes decisions that are consistent with our strategy and values. | Decisions that are made move the organisation towards achieving the strategy in the desired direction. |
| Revised | When things don’t go to plan, we revise the decision. | The organisation is able to recognise a poor decision and change course accordingly. |
| Open Text | What suggestions do you have, large or small, for how {our organisation} can make sure decisions are in line with strategy? | Asked in order to gather top of mind thoughts/suggestions on how the organisation can become more aligned in decision making. |
Simple
The Simple dimension of Decision Making explores how your organisation manages decision making. Does your team have time to adapt to changes, and are the reasons for any decisions made clear to everyone?
The Simple dimension is made up of the indicators: Timely, Manageable, Understood and an open-text question.
| Indicator | Question | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Timely | We neither rush nor delay decisions, we take action at the right time. | Asked in order to determine whether decisions are made at the right time in the organisation. |
| Manageable | I never feel overwhelmed by the number of changes or decisions that impact my work. | People in the organisation are not feeling overwhelmed or finding it hard to keep up with the number of decisions that impact them. |
| Understood | I understand the reasons for decisions that are made in {our organisation}. | People in the organisation have a good understanding of the decisions that are made and why. |
| Open Text | What, if anything, could be done to make the reasons behind decisions better understood by people? | Asked in order to gather suggestions on how the organisation could make decisions more understandable for people. |
Balanced
The Balanced dimension of Decision Making explores how your organisation looks at the bigger picture when making decisions. Are possible downsides or risks being considered, and can your team push back when needed?
The Balanced dimension is made up of the indicators: Risks, Circumstances, Push Backs and an open-text question.
| Indicator | Question | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Risks | We take into account risks or problems that may result from a decision. | The organisation assesses the risks involved in decision making and acts accordingly. |
| Circumstances | We take into account the current situation and circumstances whenever we make decisions. | The organisation assesses the situation and surrounding circumstances at the time of the decision in order to be well informed. |
| Push Backs | If a decision feels wrong, I can share my opinion without fear of negative consequences. | The organisation welcomes feedback from employees on decisions that have already been made. |
| Open Text | To what extent do people in {our organisation} feel that they can respectfully challenge a decision that has already been made? Please explain. | Asked in order to gather top of mind thoughts on what may encourage a culture of speaking up at the organisation. |