Decision making Planning Organisation 1216640408319045 8

Learner Development Unit www.brad.ac.uk/developme

Decision-making, Planning & Organisation: The Basics

Materials developed by the Learner Development Unit at the

University of Bradford

What you will learn:

• Different decision-making tools so that you can select a strategy to use.

• The issues to consider when making a decision as part of a group.

• How to priortise when organising yourself.

• How to manage tasks-completion.

The Plan…

1. PMI and how to use it

2. Using 6 Colour thinking

3. Egan’s Skilled Helper model

4. Tips for group decisions

5. Planning & Organising 1 – allocating and prioritising

6. Planning & Organising 2 – tracking tasks using ‘diaries’.

Potential positive results of making the decision.

Potential negative results of making the decision.

Obstacles in making the decision.

1. PMI and how to use it

+ -

Total Total Total

1. Next…

• Award each plus and minus a score between 1 and 10 in terms of it’s ‘strength’ (we call this ‘potency’.)

• Now look at your obstacles.

- How many are there?

- What score would you attribute to each to describe their potency?

- If the score is less than 5 you may be able to make the decision without addressing the obstacle first

+ -I haven’t had a holiday since this time last year – I deserve a break

8 I don’t enjoy long haul flights

6 How expensive is the holiday – I need the price details from my friend b4 deciding

7

I have that new credit card to pay with

6 I haven’t paid off my last holiday yet

10

The location will be beautiful and deeply relaxing

10 I don’t have enough cash saved up

10

Total 24 Total 26 Total 7

1. Should I go on this expensiveholiday with my friend?

Activity: PMI

• Work alone.

• Try completing a PMI for a real or hypothetical decision to practise using the format for effective decision-making.

2. Using 6 Colour thinking

• Where is it from? - De Bono, E. (1999) The Six Thinking Hats 2nd

Ed., London: Penguin Books

• What is it?

2. What do they do?

• Colours = a different way of thinking.

• Helps to break decision-making down into manageable steps.

• So, it can be summarised like this:

Activity: Practise with 6 Colour Thinking

• Work with a partner.

• You can take a new real or hypothetical decision OR you can recycle the decision you used previously for the PMI activity.

• Apply 6 Colour Thinking in the order suggested.

3. Egan’s Skilled Helper model

• Gerard Egan• Use of 3 stages matrix.• ‘Client’s’ issues are central.• It is designed to help people

become better at helping themselves in their everyday lives.

(Egan 1998: 7-8) • Empowering.

3. How can it help indecision-making?

• The Egan model aims to help the speaker address 3 main questions:

- What is going on?- What do I want instead?- How might I get to what I want?

• It is a powerful tool when used between two people – the Decider and the Helper.

• You can move forwards, backwards, up and down through the model where you see an arrow.

3. How does it work?A Model of the Helping Process (Egan, 1996)

Activity: Navigating the Skilled Helper Model

• In pairs or trios apply the model to one another.

• The Helpers ask careful questions to tease out thinking and feeling responses to each stage and level of the matrix.

• The Deciders reply to the Helpers as honestly as possible as they move towards a taking a firm decision.

4. Tips for group decisions

• Importance of establishing/enforcing Ground Rules

• Consensus is powerful

• Reframing and reworking

• Taking versus making a decision

• The ‘Risky Shift’

Planning and Organising 1Time Tips

• Time allocation categories:

- Necessaries/Practicalities- Compulsories- Optionals- Protected time

• Dividing the day

• Prioritising

Prioritising:

High Importance

Do it now Plan to do it well

Low Importance Resist making this high priority

Don’t succumb!

High Urgency Low Urgency

• REALLY break tasks down

• Denoting differences between study, personal & professional entries

• Get your highlighters out

• Tasks not done…

Planning and Organising 2 Planning with a ‘diary’

The end…

• Questions, questions…

• Evaluations

What next?

• Check out our website for more learning materials: www.brad.ac.uk/developme

• Come along to another workshop: http://www.brad.ac.uk/lss/lssworkshops/

• Contact us for 1-2-1 advice and support: - x6849 - [email protected]