The truth is that managers rarely have perfect information at their disposal. In most cases, a manager is forced to make decisions based on what is available. This is certainly the case if time management is an underlying issue.
The crucial question a manager needs to ask is how reliable is the information that they currently have, does it appear reasonable, and is there greater benefit to be had by acting on what they have, as opposed to waiting until they get better data.
This logic is frequently applied in budgeting situations where data is never perfect. A tip for managers working without perfect information when looking at budgeting is to validate what you have against current trends, apply an order of magnitude test and look at historic information. Always disclose to users what assumptions you made.
Unless it is a life or death situation, applying common sense and prudence will allow managers to make good decisions without perfect information.
The crucial question a manager needs to ask is how reliable is the information that they currently have, does it appear reasonable, and is there greater benefit to be had by acting on what they have, as opposed to waiting until they get better data.
This logic is frequently applied in budgeting situations where data is never perfect. A tip for managers working without perfect information when looking at budgeting is to validate what you have against current trends, apply an order of magnitude test and look at historic information. Always disclose to users what assumptions you made.
Unless it is a life or death situation, applying common sense and prudence will allow managers to make good decisions without perfect information.
