A decision matrix supports both decision-making and decision quality at the same time. A decision matrix can be viewed as the ‘logic’ behind all decisions, providing the rationale for both the support and reasons to de-select or de-emphasize one of the options.
Method to Create a Decision Matrix
First, determine and agree upon the “Purpose” of the object or topic being decided. Then separately list and define your options. Follow up with a detailed and objective understanding of the decision criteria. Copy them into a simple X-Y grid as shown below.
Use the “Creativity” tool or narrative “Brainstorming” to develop lists of both the options being considered and the criteria to be used to evaluate the options. By applying “PowerBalls” and carefully wording our questions, we can now assess the impact of each criterion on each of the options with a simple decision matrix. For example, if we want to know which sports to target in a marketing campaign, we might develop two lists and populate the decision matrix as shown below:
Basic Decision Matrix
- At the intersection of each criterion and option, ask precisely the following at the start of your analysis effort.
“TO WHAT EXTENT DOES ‘X’ IMPACT (OR RELATE) TO ‘Y’?”
- From the example above we might determine that from the perspective of a sports drink company, ‘Basketball’ is a more desirable option than ‘Curling.’
CAUTION: AVOID THE CLOSE-ENDED QUESTION “Does ‘X’ involve ‘Y’?” There is always a subject matter expert who can draw the correlation. Conceding ‘Relativity’ we are not after “Does it?”. Rather, we are focused on the degree, intensity, level, or to what extent does it.
Benefits of a Decision Matrix
Always provide your executive sponsor or steering team with a decision matrix to back up your decision. This simple but highly effective visual tool preempts their common question, “Why did you select ‘X’?” The decision matrix provides a visual display of your rationale and trail of logic. Furthermore, if the decision changes, it forces the team to adjust their logic. Once documented, it enables your team to be consistent with subsequent decisions.
______
Don’t ruin your career by hosting bad meetings. Sign up for a workshop or send this to someone who should. MGRUSH workshops focus on meeting design and practice. Each person practices tools, methods, and activities every day during the week. Therefore, while some call this immersion, we call it the road to building high-value facilitation skills.
Our workshops also provide a superb way to earn up to 40 SEUs from the Scrum Alliance, 40 CDUs from IIBA, 40 Continuous Learning Points (CLPs) based on Federal Acquisition Certification Continuous Professional Learning Requirements using Training and Education activities, 40 Professional Development Units (PDUs) from SAVE International, as well as 4.0 CEUs for other professions. (See workshop and Reference Manual descriptions for details.)
Want a free 10-minute break timer? Sign up for our once-monthly newsletter HERE and receive a timer along with four other of our favorite facilitation tools, free.
Demonstration Video
Terrence Metz, MBA, CSM, CSPF, PSP01, HTTO1, is the Managing Director of MG RUSH Facilitation Leadership, Training, and Meeting Design, an acknowledged leader in structured facilitation training, and author of “Meetings That Get Results – A Facilitator’s Guide to Building Better Meetings.” His FAST Facilitation Best Practices blog features nearly 300 articles on facilitation skills and tools aimed at helping others lead meetings that produce clear and actionable results. His clients include Agilists, Scrum teams, program and project managers, senior officers, and the business analyst community among numerous private and public companies and global corporations. As an undergraduate of Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and an MBA graduate from NWU’s Kellogg School of Management, his professional experience has focused on process improvement and product development. He continually aspires to make it easier for others to succeed.
