Here's how you can overcome decision-making biases as a program manager.

In my vast experience in program management, a non biased approach in personality conflict environment is of utmost importance. This is important to achieve benefit realization via a Win Win approach with conflicting members, which is always there in complex programs. Also, a non biased approach to me means listening more to stakeholders and understanding the root causes beliefs of their conflicts and evaluating how to best achieve the benefits of your program in full or in part as a start by resolving conflicts via a common objective or finding a commonality to their root cause beliefs is important. It is the Win of the Program Manager that can stay unbiased till the finish line and still achievethe Win of its stakeholders.

It is crucial to recognize and overcome decision-making biases to make informed, objective choices. One approach is to seek diverse perspectives from team members with different backgrounds and experiences. Establishing clear, measurable criteria for decision-making also helps reduce personal biases. Data-driven insights and analytics can support decisions, rather than relying on intuition. Taking time to reflect and consider different scenarios and outcomes can prevent impulsive decisions. Using decision-making frameworks like cost-benefit analysis or SWOT analysis can structure the decision-making process. By implementing these strategies, program managers can minimize the impact of biases and make informed decisions that drive success.

* Awareness: The first step is acknowledging that biases exist. Recognize how your background, experiences, and preferences can influence your choices. * Gather Diverse Input: Don't rely solely on your own judgment. Solicit input from team members with different perspectives and expertise. * Data-driven Decisions: Whenever possible, base your decisions on objective data and analysis. Use data to identify trends, assess risks, and evaluate options. * Challenge Assumptions: Question your initial assumptions and actively seek out dissenting viewpoints. Consider alternative solutions and potential consequences before making a final decision. * Document Your Rationale: Document the reasoning behind your decisions.

Recognizing bias is the core part. With that thought point 1 and 4 which are "Awareness and Challenge Assumptions" can be seen under the same lens. Now for sure even that is not enough. This is where we need to keep windows open. So here using data driven decisions, listening to team members etc., comes into picture. Here additional things to take into account are broad level practice changes, industry disruptors and nnovation that is happening else where. Mere company team members are likely to have the similar bias! Rest of it would be boilerplate PDCA cycle, so documentation etc., come into picture.

Two disciplines: 1. I always started my effort with the assumption I did not know anything about the subject of the project. 2. We had a standard fixed list of possible subjects to be researched before reaching a conclusion. We reviewed each item on that list and selected those that were most germane to the project.

One thing I have found useful most of the times that as much your team is diverse, as much good decision you can make with respect to success of program. The well known fact applies here .. many minds many ideas for a success story!

For progressive leaders and organisations, diversity (and equity and inclusion) continues to be an imperative and ethical necessity. Consumer sentiments reflected through purchasing power and social activism, will ultimately determine and influence the level of diversity within brands and organisations.

Diversity will always be a crucial element to the growth of a team and business. But it goes beyond different demographics and different exposure to experiences and skills, it is also how you utilise these characteristics to make the most of everyone’s strengths and synergise as efficiently as possible.

An important aspect of diversity is having access to different perspectives, these allow to complement your own techniques and experiences around things like problem solving. In addition to that it brings cultures together and position teams to interact more effectively and deliver further productivity than when operating within a single viewpoint within the organization.

Diverse Teams: Build diverse teams with different perspectives, backgrounds, and expertise. Encourage Input: Actively seek and value input from all team members, especially those with different viewpoints.

A long time mentor of mine used to say 'Facts are our friends ". I firmly believe that data is a powerful tool. It is the best way to make the right decision for your stakeholders and beneficiaries and to strategically use resources and budget. With data-driven decision-making, teams and organizations can stay relevant and provide services efficiently.

Gathering data is important but it needs to be the right data. I’ve seen awful managers try to use data to tell the WRONG story. Therefore you need to always question the validity of the data if concerned and ensure you can tell the right story

Using a data-driven approach in decision-making involves basing choices on objective data and evidence rather than intuition. For instance, a program manager deciding on a new product feature would gather and analyze market research, customer surveys, and sales data to assess demand, competitor performance, and potential ROI. This method reduces biases like confirmation bias and anchors decisions on factual analysis, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and enhancing decision accuracy and effectiveness.

As Sergeant Joe Friday said. "All we want are the facts". Don't listen to hearsay, Judge Judy doesn't like that either! 😃 Quantifying an issue, assumption, or required outcome will enable a valid decision to be made.

Navigating decision-making biases is like a scientist conducting experiments. To overcome biases, always challenge assumptions. Tests hypotheses without preconceived notions, and critically evaluate the foundations of your decisions. In a key project at Amazon, I frequently questioned baseline data and assumptions, leading to more precise solutions. Try to disconfirm your beliefs and hear more voices that don't align with your own. By adopting a scientific mindset and challenging assumptions, you make decisions that are data-driven and unbiased.

In order to challenge assumptions we first need to know and be conscious of our own. That is a day-to-day task. While in college (a Christian Catholic one) I took a class called Socio-Cultural Anthropology, taught by an amazing atheist professor. She was probably the first person who opened my mind to see the world, cultures, races and tribes from their own perspective, and not just mine. We all assume, at some point. So, doing a conscious exercise to challenge them is a healthy task to run better teams and programs.

Question Assumptions: Regularly question and test the assumptions underlying your decisions. Devil’s Advocate: Assign someone the role of devil’s advocate to challenge ideas and decisions constructively.

I like to reframe this as not only challenging assumptions to that of questioning orthodoxy. One definition of orthodoxy is an authorized or generally accepted theory, doctrine, or practice. When making decisions it is difficult to overcome our own biases built on foundations of a lifetime of experience and living. Sometimes simple exercises can help stimulate different unorthodox approaches. For example, I was once at a travel conference. We were given a group exercise to imagine what high-end hotels could do instead of having an in-room refrigerators with expensive stocked items. People hated those. At that time, few questioned the idea of these expensive in-room options. Years later, it seems I see fewer and fewer stocked refrigerators.

Review Decisions: After implementation, review the outcomes of your decisions to learn from successes and failures. Adjust Accordingly: Use the insights gained to adjust future decision-making processes and avoid repeating mistakes.

Even though I agree with the concept, I think that a framework like this could easily end up being bureaucratic and slow organizations down. Pragmatism sometimes requires free flow of ideas and decisions so things move forward fast and at innovation pace. That said, checks and balances are always a good way to keep things under control.

Decision Frameworks: Use structured decision-making frameworks and tools to guide your process. Checklists: Create checklists to ensure all relevant factors are considered before making a decision.

Deploy a decision scorecard with critical criteria and weighted scores to counteract bias. It ensures decision-making transparency and provides a post-implementation record for review against anticipated results versus actual performance. While beneficial, it may not appeal to all team members due to the cognitive effort and time required. Use it for critical strategic decisions requiring significant investments.

Slow Down: Avoid making rushed decisions by taking the time to think things through and gather necessary information. Mindfulness Practices: Engage in mindfulness practices to enhance self-awareness and reduce emotional biases. Regular Training: Participate in training programs focused on cognitive biases and decision-making skills.

First acknowledge the existence of biases and actively work on increasing awareness of them. Emphasize the importance of data driven decision making by collecting and analyzing relevant data to support my choices. Seeking input from diverse team members and stakeholders can help in gaining different perspectives and minimizing personal biases. Implement decision making frameworks such as cost benefit analysis/SWOT analysis to ensure a systematic approach to evaluating options. Regularly reviewing and reflecting on past decisions and outcomes can also help in learning from mistakes and improving future decision making processes.

Trust your gut. Often times, it’s easier to refer to people with more experience for advice, but at some point, trusting ourselves with the decisions we make puts us in a stronger position to maintain control of our environments, our minds and the people around us. If your decisions succeed, then continue to progress. If they fail, then it’s an opportunity to learn and grow next time. Failure it good.