Do you struggle when making important decisions? Here’s how leaders can overcome indecisiveness

Any leader or aspiring leader will be faced with making important decisions. Whether they’re tasked with hiring the right people to fill out an efficient team or forced to pivot to a new business strategy to increase productivity, leaders must know how and when to make the right call.

But it’s not easy. As Forbes contributor Dr. Samantha Madhosingh reported in a recent story, a 2023 global survey from Oracle and economist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz found that “85% of business leaders have suffered from decision distress—regretting, feeling guilty about or questioning a decision they made in the past year.”

Fear of making the wrong decision can create decision anxiety, which freezes leaders in place and leads many to simply ignore problems in the hopes that they will eventually go away. But this is no way to lead or set a good example for your team. 

In her story, Madhosingh outlines some steps to help make decision making a little more approachable. Let’s go over some of the highlights:

• Know that you must make the decision: As we already mentioned, sitting around and hoping that a problem will go away is no way to manage—in fact, it will probably end up making the issue at hand worse. Madhosingh writes that the first step is acknowledging the existence of an issue, accepting that it is your responsibility to act on it, and to begin prioritizing timely actions to identify small problems and prevent them from growing into major obstacles.
• Be collaborative: Good leaders don’t make decisions without consulting the people they trust. Seek out different perspectives and encourage an open dialogue with your team and various stakeholders to ensure that you are not making a decision with blinders on. 
• Be decisive, but flexible: While it’s often imperative to make decisions quickly, it’s also important to be able to adjust if new information becomes available. Madhosingh advises that leaders “develop contingency plans so [they] can quickly pivot if circumstances change.” Not every choice you make will work out the way you expect, so be ready to shift your thinking and adapt.

These are just a few of the steps that Madhosingh covers for improving your decision-making skills. For the full scope, including how to leverage data and your critical thinking skills, check out the rest of her article.

Read the full story: 5 steps leaders can take to make better decisions

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Office Culture: A noisy office is a nuisance—and a business opportunity

For many office workers, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted and changed how we get our work done. After months and even years of working from home, more companies are calling their employees back to the office. For some, the return has been a more difficult adjustment than expected—especially when it comes to office noise.

In her recent story for Forbes, senior editor Jena McGregor takes a look at how all that time spent working from home has upended our expectations about noise levels in the workplace—and how some entrepreneurs now see an opportunity to capitalize. 

For example, Finland-based Framery is one of the biggest makers of office “pods,” which are fully enclosed, glass-walled modern phone booths that allow employees to get their work done in a sound-resistant space with fewer distractions. And Framery is just one of the companies that is capitalizing on this shift in office culture. Make sure to read more about how employers are “soundscaping” their offices and designing “libraries” for quiet places to work in McGregor’s full story.

Read the full story: A noisy office is a nuisance—and a business opportunity

Driving success: How model Taylor Hill went from fashion to founder

More: 

• The Evolution Of Summer Fridays In The Workplace
• Pursuing Multiple Job Leads? 4 Negotiation Mistakes To Avoid
• Actions You Can Take If Your Boss Is Disorganized
• How Adopting ‘Rich-People Hobbies’ Can Help You In Your Career
• Tips For Resigning From Your Job Without Burning Bridges

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Thank you for reading! We'll be back next week with another edition of Forbes Edge. 

This edition of Forbes Edge was written and curated by associate editor Chris Dobstaff.