Decision making is probably the most important skill for anyone because it relates very closely to one’s ability to take responsibility for their life. As the job of a leader is to make decisions as guidelines for his/her subordinates, decision-making ability is of crucial importance to a leader. Moreover, it is not only essential to the performance at work but also in social activities and daily life. People with good decision-making skills are confident in their approach to make sound decisions.
Exceptional/Superior:
- Donald is able to make sound fact-based judgments.
- Helen is able to work out multiple alternative solutions and apply the most suitable one.
- Jennifer is objective in considering a fact or situation.
- Sarah is firm to not let the individual emotion and feeling affect on the made decision.
- Sam is decisive in hard case scenario and times.
- Barak is supportive and encourages others to work well with him/her.
- Jane is good at making true and fair judgments based on facts and evidences.
- Samuel is decisive to select out the most suitable solution among many others.
- Emma is assertive and keeps personal emotion and feelings out of the head.
- Tom considers the situation or problem objectively.
- Katherine is encouraging and supportive at work.
Exceeds Requirements/More than Satisfactory:
- Jennifer is able to make a decision when other employees are too afraid to commit to a course of action.
- Yvonne makes bold decisions based purely on logic.
- Every solution proposed by Rachel is a result of a detailed analysis.
- Robert incites his subordinates to participate in decision-making.
- Jeremy is aware of the possible implications of unexpected problems and uses sound judgment to fix them.
- Peter is not afraid to make tough decisions.
- Frank weighs all the options with great attention to details.
- Laura is able to find the perfect solution even in force majeure situation.
- Quentin can be counted on when the team is facing difficult problems.
- Susan carefully collects data before making decisions.
- Nathan considers numerous alternatives for every problem.
- Aaron consults with others when choosing a course of action.
- Jack is an honest employee who makes decisions based on facts, not personalities.
- Monica communicates decisions directly and intelligibly.
- Oliver meticulously analyzes issues and works out workable solutions.
- Richard is able to come up with numerous alternative solutions and select the most suitable one.
Meets Expectations/Satisfactory:
- Jennifer is good at defining problems but her solutions are not always helpful.
- Arnold always makes decisions according to the company’s goals.
- Nathan never rushes to conclusion. He collect all the facts and analyzes them.
- Emma never lets her emotions to step in the decision-making process.
- George takes personal responsibility for any outcome of his decisions.
- Maria is able to find a satisfactory solution on a timely manner.
- Oliver copes with stress well. He does not let anxiety to interfere with decision-making.
- Most of Abigail’s decisions are a result of a detailed analysis.
- John takes the company’s resources into account when making decisions.
- Bruce looks at problems systematically to find the most appropriate solutions.
Provisional/Needs Improvement:
- Sophia is hesitant in making decision and too much cautious in making the final decision which often results in wrong decision;
- Anthony applies complex and impractical approaches in solving problems;
- Jacob fails to make a short-list of solutions recommended by direct units;
- Isabella is paralyzed and confused when facing tight deadlines to make decisions;
- Elisabeth makes too much complaint on the content of the job;
- Andrew tends to apply a single and rush decision-making approach;
- Amelia avoids conflicts at work in relation to decision making process.
- Lillian fails to make up his/her mind about a certain problem;
- Lucas applies complex and unconventional methods in approaching a problem instead of simple and formal methods;
- Hannah struggles hard under critical circumstances;
- Charlotte keeps complaining about a problem instead of seeking solution to resolve it;
- Christian has to struggle hard but cannot meet tight deadlines;
- Joseph often recourses to hasty method;
- Dylan fails to work out a common decision for the whole group discussion;
- Evelyn is confused in dealing with too many issues in group work and cannot make the final decision.
Unsatisfactory:
- Francesca delays decision-making, which leads to serious production problems.
- Evan does not have enough experience to be responsible for decision-making.
- Gwen frequently makes irrational and spontaneous decisions.
- Abigail fails to listen to all sides of an argument when making decisions.
- Arnold refuses from tasks that cannot be accomplished with simple solutions.
- George shifts responsibilities for tough decisions to other employees.
- Wendy prefers to use emotions instead of facts, which helps her to pick the best solution.
- Bruce is too afraid to make a mistake. It makes him a very poor decision maker.
- Jake collects too much unnecessary data to sort out simple problems.
- Janet chooses conventional options instead of coming up with new ideas.
- Robert always agrees with others and does not offer his own solutions.
- Harry does not like to address such problems that cannot be resolved with quick solutions.
- Sometimes David forgets to think through all the options when picking the solution.
Self Evaluation Questions:
- How much time do you need to address an unexpected issue?
- Do you always gather enough information before making a decision?
- Are you listening to others when making decisions?
- Have you ever let your emotions overtake you during the decision-making process?
- Do you always have a backup plan?
- Can you make a decision within a short period?
- Do you always weigh all pros and cons when choosing the course of action?
- Are your decisions always based on logic?
- What do you do to pick the best solution out of many?
- How do you make sure your decisions are not biased?
The sample of performance review phrases for decision making is a great/helpful tool for periodical/annual job performance appraisal. Note that, decision making review phrase can be positive or negative and your performance review can be effective or bad/poor activities for your staffs.
If no matching phrase is found, you can also see a general list of performance review phrases and choose a more appropriate skill.