High quality decision-making depends on good information, well-used.

Excellence in this stage of decision-making requires that information:
- Be cost-effective to obtain and evaluate
- Reduce the risk of the decision that is being made
- Be available at the right time and place for the decision to be made

The basic thing you’re doing when planning information gathering is to figure out what information you need, what information you have, and then figuring out how to fill in the gaps with the best information you can get in the time, and with resources you have available.

There are three key things to guard against in this process:

- Assuming you know more than you do about the situation you’re evaluating, including the risks involved in the decision you’re making
- Assuming the future will be like the past and present
- Investing lots of time and resources gathering much more information than you’ll ever need for this decision-making process

These are the basic steps involved in gathering good information to make decision-making easy…or easier:

1. Prepare.
2. Consider what information you need.
3. Clarify what information you already have.
4. Identify what information you still need.
5. Make a plan to get the information.
6. Get the information.

Here’s more information about each of these steps:

1. Prepare.

Review the decision you’re making, and the risks involved in each of the possible outcomes.

Consider what the cost is to you of the riskiest outcomes, no matter how well prepared you are for good decision results.

This will help you understand the possible cost of a bad outcome, and what the benefit of good risk-reducing information may be.

Also, list the assumptions you’re making. You may need to come back to them at some point in the decision-making process.

2. Consider what information you need.

Consider what information you want to make this decision with confidence.

Now consider what information you really need to make the decision. It may be more, or less than the information you planned to seek.

Plan to check some information that will challenge or verify the most critical assumptions you’re making. These assumptions, if incorrect, greatly increase the risk of the decision you’re making.

3. Clarify what information you already have.

In some cases, you may already have all the information you need. The information may already exist inside your company, but just not be widely used now.

Look at what you have now, and whether it is current or complete enough for the decision you’re making.

4. Identify what information you still need.

Look at the gap between the information you need, and what you have.

Figure out what how much time you have to get the information, and what resources you have to do so.

That’s important to know because there are usually more and less expensive ways – and more and less effective ways – to get the information you need, depending on the data sources you use.

Remember, also, that you may never have all the information you want, even when you have all the information you need.

5. Make a plan to get the information.

Choose the information source or sources that are most likely to get you the best information most quickly and cost-effectively.

Create a clear and effective plan to get the information. As with any good plan, if you’ll be dividing the information-gathering tasks among several people, make clear assignments, set clear expectations about the work that will be provided, when it is needed, and in what format.

If you’re not the person who will be using the information to make the final decision, decide how you’ll get the information to the decision-makers in a format that they can use, when they need it.

6. Get the information.

Be prepared to change your approach, getting more or less information, depending on what the results show, as the information comes in.

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