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INDIVIDUAL COHERENCE : The decider’s coherence is given by the extent to which his/her weightings of the options “all things considered” agree with (or are concordant with) his/her composite weighting of the options on a objective-by-objective basis. TEAM CONSISTENCY : The team’s consistency standard is the average of each individual’s consistency standard. TEAM AGREEMENT : The team agreement standard is shown by whether and how far the team agrees on priorities – is concordant. Conflicts between team members are highlighted. CONCLUSIONS : Priorities Now is a stand-alone easy-to-use program. Deciders use it as a decision: Support system to speed decision making Insight system to explore & enhance their own thinking Advice system to help make or back up their decisions Evaluation tool to evaluate decisions Negotiating tool agree reliable team or intergroup decisions Training tool to improve decision-making skills Deciding priorities is deciding what is more important. Giving top priority to deciding priorities ensures more effective results overall. Yet all too often deciders leave less time and energy and concentration than they need for reliable decision-making. Priorities Now is applicable to any issue. Context and content vary according to the issue, but the process is generic and universal. Were this not so, deciders could never learn from experience. Priorities Now has been and is effectively used for decision making at every level of organisation from top Directorate policy-making to grassroots practice. It is and has been used in every organisation branch and specialism from operational line management to R & D to HRM. It has proved effective in filling critical gaps in many management methods in respect of the qualitative aspect of human judgement (eg. management by objectives, cost benefit analysis, decisions analysis, etc). Some of the many issues for which deciders use Priorities Now include: CORPORATE strategy PERSONNEL appraisal Product MARKETING MS efficiency audits SALES targeting R & D project management PRODUCTION control IT product evaluation PURCHASING contracts OFFICE reorganisation FINANCE investment TRAINING plans & courses. The method is no substitute for getting relevant information, though it can help to pinpoint what information is relevant and what decision to take when information is insufficient. It is no substitute for appointing effective deciders, though it is invaluable as a training and evaluation tool. It is no substitute for participative discussion of significant issues, though it can open up wide-ranging debate. Deciders regularly using Priorities Now claim the following benefits: Makes the complex simple Establishes decision accountability Reveals what we really think Achieves understanding and commitment Demonstrates your points Educates and evaluates our decisions Helps us make better decisions snappier Cuts through meetings and trivia Never departs from our values Ensures qualitative factors given their due. The diagram shows the sections of Priorities Now that you may use. You may use the program as an INDIVIDUAL DECIDER, and/or TEAM DECIDER. You may decide priorities between OPTIONS ONLY (ALL THINGS CONSIDERED). OR you may decide priorities between OPTIONS ON OBJECTIVE-BY-OBJECTIVE BASIS. (On this latter section you will also have to decide priorities between objective). You may use the INTUITION METHOD or JUDGEMENT METHOD to decide these. Your decisions will automatically be evaluated according to valid decisions standards. Team decisions are evaluated as to how far the team agrees (CONCORDANCE). Individual decisions using the Judgement Method are evaluated in terms of CONSISTENCY. QUICKEST DECISION MAKING. This is using the following sections: INDIVIDUAL DECIDER + 3 OPTIONS ONLY (ALL THINGS CONSIDERED) + INTUITION MOST RELIABLE DECISION MAKING. This is using the following sections: TEAM DECIDERS + OPTIONS ON OBJECTIVE-BY-OBJECTIVE BASIS + JUDGEMENT METHOD + CONSISTENCY & CONCORDANCE STANDARDS.