How We Make Good Decisions
How Will This Session Help Me Get Ready For Work?
Every job needs us to make choices and solve problems. That could be deciding how to manage a busy shift, fixing a customer's problem, or choosing the best next step for your future career. Many people find big choices stressful and worry about making mistakes. However, using wisdom, asking smart questions, and setting clear goals can help you make good decisions with confidence and take away the worry!
Questions to get started
When you have a decision to make—like planning the food for the week, buying something expensive, or changing jobs—how do you usually decide what to do?
Think of a time when you had to make a choice at school, home, or work and it didn't go to plan. Looking back, what information or help do you wish you had before deciding?
If a friend came to you feeling stuck between two different career options, what smart questions would you ask them to help them make up their mind?
Focused Virtues
The Focused Virtue for this session is Wisdom.
Wisdom gives us the clarity to make good decisions when I need to, in everyday tasks and also when choosing my future career so my choices are thoughtful and my path is clear.
Ask Yourself: "Can I grow in wisdom to make sound decisions for myself and my future?"
Think with care, choose with purpose.
Skills Development:
Making good decisions at work or about work takes real wisdom. Instead of rushing or guessing, wise decision-making means gathering the right facts, asking good questions, and knowing exactly what success looks like.
First, you need to find reliable information before taking action. Read instructions carefully, check trusted sources, or ask an experienced colleague for advice. Getting correct facts early stops mistakes and gives you confidence.
Next, ask strategic questions to explore your options. Instead of choosing the first idea that comes to mind, ask open questions starting with what or how, such as: "What other ways could we solve this problem?" This encourages flexible thinking and helps you see choices you might have missed.
Finally, set clear success criteria to choose the best path forward. Success criteria are the specific standards your solution must meet, such as staying within a budget, meeting a deadline, or keeping quality. When you have several options, compare them against your criteria to see which one delivers the best outcome.
By gathering facts, asking open questions, and weighing your options against clear goals, you will develop the workplace wisdom needed to make great decisions every time.
Interview Practise: Case Studies and Questions
"Can you tell me about a time when you had to make a quick decision at work or school? How did you choose what to do?"
"If you were given a completely new task and didn’t know how to complete it, what steps would you take to find the right information?"
Group Case Study
You have just started a new part-time job in a busy café. Your supervisor asks you to order takeaway coffee cups before the end of the day. They tell you to "find the best option online," but they don't give you any more information. When you search online, you find many companies offering different prices, sizes, materials, and delivery times. How can you choose the right coffee cups for the café?
Useful Resources:
Guidance and Resources for Facilitators
This guide accompanies the learner-facing article on How to Make Good Decisions. As a facilitator, your role is to help learners connect key workplace concepts to their own life experiences, explore common barriers, and build practical confidence.
To support participants effectively, keep these core principles from the frameworks in mind:
Success Criteria: Specific, relevant, and measurable standards used to evaluate tasks and decisions. Defining these parameters (such as budget, deadlines, or quality benchmarks) allows learners to weigh competing options and make objective choices rather than guessing.
Finding & Verifying Information: Gathering instructions and data before acting. Encouraging learners to check multiple reliable sources, break tasks into smaller steps, and consult experienced people saves time and prevents mistakes.
Strategic Questioning: Asking open-ended questions (typically starting with what or how) to consider options, challenge bias, and avoid one-sided thinking.
Common Barriers Learners Face
When working with entry-level or EAL learners, you may encounter specific obstacles in this area:
Fear of Asking "Foolish" Questions: Learners often worry that asking for information or clarification will make them appear unprepared or incompetent.
Over-Reliance on Assumptions: It is natural to stick strictly to the first method learned or to assume a process cannot be changed because "that is how it has always been done."
Decision Paralysis: Complex tasks with multiple choices can feel overwhelming, leading learners to make random guesses just to finish the task quickly.
Facilitation Strategies & Reflection Prompts
Use the following techniques to help learners draw on their own experiences and build practical decision-making skills:
1. Unpacking "Finding Information"
Reflective Prompt: "Think of a time you started a new job or task and felt unsure of what to do. Did you ask for help, or try to work it out on your own? What happened?"
Overcoming the Barrier: Reframe asking questions as a sign of workplace wisdom, not weakness. Remind learners that checking instructions or asking an experienced colleague saves the team time and prevents mistakes.
2. Practicing Strategic Questioning
Ask: "How do you usually respond when someone asks you a yes/no question versus a 'how' or 'what' question?"
Group Activity: Pair learners up. Give them a scenario (e.g., Planning a community event on a small budget). Ask one learner to use only closed questions ("Is it indoors?") and then switch to open, strategic questions ("What are some different ways we could use this space?"). Discuss how the answers changed.
3. Setting & Using Success Criteria
Reflective Prompt: "Imagine you are buying a used car or choosing a training course. What are your 'must-haves' versus 'nice-to-haves'?"
Practice: Show how success criteria act as a checklist for decision-making. Practice comparing two realistic workplace options against simple criteria (e.g., Cost, Time, Quality) so learners see how decisions work in practice.
Discussion Wrap-Up
Conclude your session by reinforcing that wisdom in decision-making grows with practice. Encourage learners to notice one moment this week where they can pause, ask an open question, or check the requirements before jumping into action.