Decision-making is one of the major struggles for most organizations. Besides determining who is responsible for which decisions, there is a need to get decisions right. Otherwise, bad decisions can be fatal to any business. The good news is that utilizing the right tools improves the process and leads to better decisions. One of the most powerful decision-making tools is data and analytics. Data-driven decision-making brings in facts and metrics into the process, guiding more informed strategic business decisions that align with the company goals and objectives. Ultimately, data-driven organizations make better decisions as compared to those that rely on intuition. Why is this so? We analyze some of the reasons below.

• Data provides facts

Data-driven decisions involve collecting and analyzing data to find insights and facts that can guide organizations in making decisions. This simply means that assumptions and mere observation are taken out of the equation. Moreover, if the data collected is complete and flawless, it raises the odds of getting the decisions right. At the end of the day, basing decisions on hard facts and insights leads to more confident and objective decisions, reduces risk and increases transparency. Businesses may use data to increase revenue, improve consumer understanding, and enhance advertising efforts, especially for those businesses that seek international expansion.

One of the areas that benefit from data driven decisions is the real estate industry. Players in the industry, especially the multifamily sector heavily rely on big data to make major investment decisions. Making decisions based on apartment market survey and property management data has led to better investment and management decisions for industry players. These kinds of data provide insights on the best areas to invest, rent prices, preferred amenities and best practices in property management among others.

• Data-driven decisions can be evaluated

One thing about conventional decision-making is that decision makers can only pray and hope that they are right. There is no way to measure or evaluate the decision before implementation. They can only wait to see the outcome after implementation. Unfortunately, sometimes it can be too much a risk to take, especially considering the time and resources that can be lost in the process.

On the other hand, it is possible to measure and evaluate decisions before implementing when going the data-driven way. There are metrics and analytics that can be applied to evaluate if the decision made is viable. By identifying patterns, data-driven organizations can see the big picture right from the start. If the metrics show a potential problem down the road, they are able to avoid it and go with the most viable one.

• Data-driven decisions are timely

Making timely decisions is of paramount importance for organizations that are focused on achieving growth. Making the right decisions as and when they are needed helps save resources and improve performance and productivity. For instance, getting the right individual within the set time frame affects the organization’s performance significantly.

One of the characteristics of reliable data is that it is timely. This means that it provides the needed insights to make the right decisions when it is needed. In addition, relying on data to make decisions saves time in the decision-making process. Data-driven organizations don’t have to waste time deciding on the best route to take. Having facts and insights speeds up the process.

• Data allows agility and flexibility in decision-making

One thing that is ever present in the business world is the rapidly evolving dynamics. Besides making timely decisions to stay afloat and ahead of the competition, organizations have to be flexible in decision-making. This ensures that they don’t miss out on opportunities, identify threats before they escalate and also gives control over rapid changes.

Real-time data and analytics provide a clear picture of the changing trends in the market – customer behavior and the like. This puts data-driven organizations at a position to be flexible and agile to make the right decisions based on what the market is saying at any given time.

• Data business application

Although all applications use data, not all business applications are data applications. Data applications must be quick and able to handle large amounts of data in order to fulfill the needs of today’s digital organizations. Data apps may be effective tools for data exploration, enabling companies to mix real-time and historical data sources to develop fresh ideas and lower the risk of risky choices. But before running your data application, be cautious of application testing in order to publish bug-free software applications for your business needs.

Conclusion

Decision-making remains one of the daunting processes that organizations have to deal with. Yet, it is essential to ensure business continuity and growth. However, the most important thing is to get the decisions right, something that relying on gut feeling doesn’t cut it. Thanks to big data and analytics, organizations that have embraced the data-driven approach become better in decision-making. This is because data provides facts and data-driven decisions can be measured. In addition, relying on data leads to timely decisions and allows flexible and agile decision-making.