How to Improve the Company Decision-Making Process

The editors at Solutions Review, in partnership with Cloudfresh, have analyzed The Anatomy of Work Global Index from Asana to highlight some best practices for improving company decision-making processes.

When it comes to challenges modern companies face, making decisions often ranks high on the list. In our current, ever-evolving business landscape, change is constant, and opportunities are fleeting, which often limits a company’s ability to make quick, well-informed decisions that keep it agile and successful. And that’s a problem, especially since it’s never been more crucial for businesses across industries to have the agility to respond to sudden disruptions.

This reality drove the team at Asana to survey nearly 10,000 global knowledge workers in late 2022 to attempt to uncover the effects of cross-functional collaboration on company-wide processes, decision-making, cross-departmental collaboration, and more. In the sections below, we’ll spotlight some insights from The Anatomy of Work Global Index results, explain why they’re valuable, and outline how they can use data to improve their company’s decision-making processes.

3 Ways to Improve Company Decision-Making

1) Start Tracking and Measuring Company Data

Knowing the best decision for a company requires you to measure what will inform and direct that decision. For example, in Asana’s Anatomy of Work Global Index, Stanford University economics professor Nick Bloom claims that data is the lifeblood of good decision-making. He says, “The more information you have, the faster you can actually see. Traders now respond in milliseconds to so much information. So for companies, for execs, the key thing is having information.”

Data is the foundation for every decision we make, even if we don’t realize it. The key to using it in company decision-making is to build it into the process by tracking and compiling market trends, customer preferences, financial performance, and operational efficiencies in a single location that decision-makers can easily access and interpret. Data-driven decisions also support company transparency and accountability, providing the decision-makers additional clarity into goals, strategies, and opportunities for success.

2) Stay Flexible

One of the best things a company can do in its decision-making process is to stay flexible. Adapting to changing trends, technologies, and disruptions is crucial to success, especially when making company decisions. It enables a company to encourage innovation, support individual creativity, and navigate uncertainties that stall progress. As the Anatomy of Work Global Index reports, focusing on building flexibility and data into decision-making processes can help you pivot without slowing the overall business down.

3) Empower Teams

Siloed decision-making will slow processes down, so empowering individual teams with the data and flexibility they need to make decisions themselves is valuable. Harvard University lecturer David C. Edelman has this to say on making quick decisions: “One of the most important things is to set up what is going to be the smallest possible cross-functional team to get a job done. Empower that team. Give them a target, give them license, and make it clear what kinds of decisions need to be escalated. Let them run.”

By delegating decision-making authority and fostering a culture of autonomy, companies tap into their teams’ diverse expertise and perspectives, effectively empowering everyone—from stakeholders to individual employees—to make smarter, more effective decisions.

Download the Complete Anatomy of Work Global Index Here