You may think your boss should be better and smarter at making decisions, but most bosses are people too.  They are influenced by outside factors and they make decisions based on the best information they have available to them at the time they make their decisions.  With every decision they try to do the right thing, but it doesn’t always come across like that.


Every person processes information and makes decisions differently.  At one end of the spectrum there are those who are objective, logical and primarily influenced by facts and data.  While at the other end of the spectrum there are those who are more subjective, intuitive and are influenced by feelings and emotions. Then there are some who fall anywhere in-between.

No matter how your boss approaches making their decisions, here are some things they wish you knew about the decisions they have to make.

Resource Decisions
Whether you realize it or not, your boss is a service provider who helps you get your job done. Your boss secures the resources you need, makes decisions in your favour, works your interdepartmental issues, and secures money to get you a raise.

People Decisions
Bosses often make decisions about people in their department.  Some decisions are pleasant like making arrangements to recognize an individual for good performance, or to notify an employee of a decision to promote them and/or or give them a raise.  Other decisions involve people and their livelihood such as decisions that need to be made during a downturn when it has to be decided on who is to stay and who to let go.  Delivering bad news is never easy and because bosses are people too, it can be hard on them.

Trade-off Decisions.
A decision that may seem like a ‘no-brainer’ to you may require your boss to make a trade-off somewhere else. For instance, you might not understand why your boss won’t approve your request for new software. That’s because approving your request might mean your boss has to cut their budget somewhere else, plus explain to a different employee why they can’t have the training course they’ve requested.

Exception Decisions
Your boss needs to consider the impact of their decisions on the rest of the department. Where it might be fine for you to work from home two days a week not everyone in the department may have the self-discipline to be productive in a home environment. It’s within a boss’s right to make exceptions for individuals, but in many cases, it will cause morale problems or even prompt accusations of treating one group differently than another.

Disagreeing with Decisions.
Being a boss is different. Bosses are supposed to make decisions to manage effectively. They are privy to different information and therefore have a different perspective than their employees.  Consequently the decisions they make may not always be ones that you can agree with.  Although, if you see that your boss is about to make a foolish or bad decision, you should suggest a better alternative. However, once your boss has made their decision, do your best to implement it— regardless of whether you agree with it or not.

Source: http://www.predictivesuccess.com/blog/things-your-boss-wishes-you-knew-about-the-decisions-they-make/