“Stages of Decision-Making” – Prof.M.S.Rao

“Decision making is the specific executive task.” - Peter F. Drucker


We all make decisions in life. But making an effective decision is indeed a tough task in today’s borderless world. The challenge with decision making is that you won’t always have all the data you would like. However you need to make decision within the given constraints. Given below are the stages of decision-making that help in arriving at the right decisions.


Before arriving at the decision, it is necessary to establish a positive, healthy and conducive environment. It helps in free flow of ideas, opinions among the participating members. The leader of the team should not bias the members with his/her own opinions and options as it stifles the decision-making process. Once the stage has been set the members must be allowed to provide divergent shades of opinions through several techniques like brainstorming, Delphi, mind mapping, reverse brainstorming etc., Evaluate the multiple alternatives by weighing the pros and cons through discussion and deliberation and followed by taking a call. Once the decision has been made it is time to check the viability and feasibility of the decision. And communicate the same to the team members and execute the decision. Finally it is time to check the validity and reliability through feedback

The above decision-making process helps in generating qualitative solutions for several business problems.

Soft Skills and Johari Window

Soft skills are all about skills, abilities and traits related to personality, attitude and behavior related to non-technical skills. It is also about communication skills and focuses more on how rather than what an individual communicates. It focuses about the pleasant and polite presentation during communication. In the process of improving communication skills, the Johari Window helps a lot in bringing about awareness of oneself and in fostering better human interaction. In this context, it is desirable to know briefly about Johari Window.


What is Johari Window?

Johari window was coined by Joseph and Harry Ingham in 1955. The name Johari has been drawn from the names of both Joseph and Harry Ingham.

Johari window has four quadrants. Each of these quadrants indicates information about feelings, motivation etc., The first quadrant is all about what we see and others see. The second quadrant is all about what others see us but we are not aware of the same. The third quadrant depicts where we neither know about ourselves nor others see. And finally in the fourth quadrant reflects what we know but keep from others. The four quadrants are represented by Arena, Blind Spot, Unknown and Façade respectively.

In a nutshell, Johari Window outlines about communication both at overt and covert level. At the overt level, it actually touches on what is actually said and at covert level it highlights on what is actually meant.


Advantages of Johari Window:

• The tool brings out awareness about individuals thereby helping in their personality development.
• It also promotes team building skills and leadership skills among the people as people are conscious of their abilities and skills and also the strengths and weaknesses.
• It furthers soft skills thereby ensuring the survival and success of the people at their workplace.
• It minimizes if there is any communication gap thereby promoting effective human interaction and relations.
• It enhances better production and productivity.


Conclusion:

Johari Window is widely used in training and development. It brings out awareness about oneself. Finally it promotes soft skills among the people thus bringing out overall growth and prosperity for the individuals as well as institutions.




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References:

Wikipedia.

Health is Wealth

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” - Mahatma Gandhi



Now-a-days, people give so much of importance to materialistic considerations rather than to health. They earn a lot but unfortunately they shell out a lot to medical expenses. Besides, they don’t enjoy blissful life due to health complications although they have lot of money. They are subject to fatigue and mental tension. When people focus too much on materialistic and worldly pleasures they tend to neglect their health. As a result, they suffer at the end. For instance, the pop star, Michael Jackson had lot of wealth but unfortunately he had poor health and it cost his life. A few celebrities suffer with several health complications despite being blessed with lot of wealth. In this context, given below are a few tips for maintaining good health.


Tips for Good Health:

“The first wealth is health.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

• Hit gym regularly. A regular exercise enhances life expectancy and longevity and keeps agile and active.
• Involve in physical activities wherever it is possible. Prefer to climb stairs rather than to escalators or elevators.
• Avoid alcoholism. Excessive drinking is always unhealthy.
• If you lead a sedentary lifestyle then it is time you need to exercise your body. Those who work with computer systems should take break at regular intervals of time and walk around for lifting their energy levels.
• Go for swimming regularly as entire body gets worked out during swimming resulting into overall physical fitness.
• Drink lot of water as it energies body and hydrates the system.
• Always take nutritious food especially fruits and salads. Avoid junk food. And also oily and fatty food.
• Consume a diet that is rich in carbohydrates just before and after a heavy work out for better health.
• Take food at regular intervals of time for better digestion.
• Go either for yoga or meditation.
• Go to a serene place and spend time as solitude is fortitude.
• Say no to drugs and tobacco.
• Go to bed at regular time everyday.
• Go for regular medical check up.
• Never brood over the unpleasant past as it not only disturbs peace of mind but also wastes time.
• Go for a stroll with family members once in a while as it promotes better understanding among the family members as well as relaxes your mind.



Conclusion:


"He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything." -Arabian Proverb

Although technology has brought several comforts to mankind it has also brought out several health hazards. Life has become highly challenging with lot of uncertainty and complexity. People should realize the importance of health and spend some time daily on health oriented activities. Spending time on regular fitness should not be treated as an expense rather an investment. You can achieve anything and everything if health is good. To sum up, health is more important than wealth.



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