Q 368. Decisional Balance Sheet is a simple yet effective tool for evaluation of alternative solutions. Explain Decisional Balance Sheet with an example.

 

 

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Decisional  Balance kit is one of the continuous improvement toolkit. It’s a simple and effective decision making practice followed. The objective of the decision balance sheet is to take more confident and balanced decisions. It is a window which shows the advantages and disadvantages of the a  challenge/idea /situation.

There may be various situations it can be either due to a problem or a condition which needs to be solved. It improves the currently knowledge about the situation. It will avoid decision making blocks or hindrances. It always encourages the team members and increases the speed of decision-making process.

It captures the advantages and disadvantages and the different options available. It can be very well useful when you plan to decide individual or related organization. Benjamin Franklin is the one who used Decision balance sheet when he wrote a letter Joseph priestly in 1772. So it is often called as franklin method.

 

	Plus	Minus
Work from home	·        Manage work and home effectively ·        Manage household things ·        More care to children ·        Work can be also done in a relaxed manner in the home premises	·        Work will not be limited to hours ·        It will extend from day till night. ·        Teaming not happening ·        Social interaction less

 

Decisional Balance Sheet is also called as Decision Balance Sheet (DBS). It is a simple but effective decision-making method that enables a team to make balanced and confident decisions. It is a tabular record to represent the advantages (Pros) and disadvantages (Cons) of an idea or a situation for the purpose of reaching to a decision quickly. It aides the user when there are multiple choices, to avoid making wrong choices.

 

 

 

Key advantages of using DBS are-

·       Avoid decision-making paralysis

·       Enhances understanding of idea or situation better

·       Speeding decision making process

 

DBS is widely used in the team environment to quickly reach to consensus. However, this needs good amount of preparation and should also be chosen to be used in conjunction with other decision-making techniques that could be more appropriate.

DBS is a 2*2 table to record Pros and Cons in short-term and Long-term. Scoring system (PMI) is used to decide whether to go ahead with idea/ decision or not. PMI simply stands for Plus (+), Minus (-) and Interesting (I). Interesting is used when elements of idea are not particularly + or – effect.

 

Steps in using Decision Balance Sheet:

1.       write the situation or idea at the top of a flip chart or whiteboard.

2.       Draw 2*2 table to capture short-term and long-term, Pros and Cons

3.       Record all benefits in Pros and possible negative effects in Cons

4.       Give numerical weights to recorded points on both side (try to be objective)

5.       Add scores in Pros and Cons and subtract total cons from pros total

6.       Consider final score and decide to go ahead with the decision or not

 

Example:

Decision to join BE- MBB Course-

	Plus (+)	Minus (-)
Short Term	Best use of weekends (4) Gain new knowledge (4) Virtual session (3) Corporate sponsorship (4)	Weekend login (-3)
Long Term	Enhancing skill set (4) Get higher salary (4) Professional Network (2)	Opportunities to implement skill (-2) Cost of software (add-on- crystal ball) (-4)
	(+27)	(-9)
	(+18)

• A decision balance sheet is very simple tool to take better decision, Here we can use excel or drawing board to draw two columns table labelled as Pros\Positives  and Cons\Negative for the given idea or situation or solutions.
• Next we will be scoring numerical weights to the different Pros\Positives  and Cons\Negative for the given idea or situation or solutions .
• The Final result which is total of individual column will help us to decide whether to go ahead with the decision or not.

Below I have taken small example to explained decision balance sheet where the challenge is to decide whether to watch new movie in Theatre this weekend.

 

Positives	Negative
Good Director (4)	Cost of ticket is high (-4)
Good Actors (3)	last 2 films where flop (-3)
Promo is good (1)
Theatre is nearby (2)
9	(-7)
Final Decision taken watch movie

 

Decisional Balance Sheet is one of the simple continuous improvement tools widely used for taking both personal and professional decisions . This is probably carrying the DNA of SWOT analysis approach but here the elements are much more fundamental and prima-facie visible than using analytics to arrive at for assessment . 

It follows a simple matrix which can look like quadrants with both Pros and Cons listed on ta tabular format and weightage is given on for or against to arrive at the net scope and which ever dominates in pros and cons would be the decision which one can take .

If we take a try primitive example of a personal issue on which one has to take a decision .
Whether I should move my home near workplace ? The below example would give the pros and cons which carries merits and disadvantages of various elements including , financial , time , health , social angles etc . 

 

 

This can be extended to a PMI which is known as the Plus -Minus-Interesting as well . We can also introduce short term and long term benefits of few decision and give weightage for  few elements which can be finally calculated for arriving at the net effect . 
 
In a professional environment when we have to take a decision in an organisation with collective in-put from many the following example can be quoted 
Whether to implement ERP solutions in the organisation or not ?

 

Decision matrix is a evolved and more sophisticated form of Decisional Balance Sheet 

Balanced score card is again the top end of this concept which is a hybrid between a Financial balance sheet and Elements causing the effects on the financials . 

Even in Psychological domain this concept is used in ABC model and also in DBT - Dialectical Behaviour Therapy .  

 

The decision balance sheet is a method for representing the positives and negatives in a table format of different choices and helping to decide on what can be focused to do in a certain circumstance.
Thinking through the positives and negatives of both changing and not doing the change is one way to help us make sure that we have fully considered various aspects of our decision.

 

How we can write? Below are the steps we can follow:

First, identify the change you are thinking to do. 
Then, write the reasons that you think in each of the boxes.
The next step is to look at your overall picture.
Rundown with someone and ask for feedback.
And lastly use this information in making the best and healthiest choice for decision making.

 

e.g. If I want to quit smoking, then create the table below:

 

 

And lastly write the statement as:

 

The Change I am considering is: Quit smoking for living a good and healthy life.
 

Decision Balance Sheet:-

Benjamin Franklin was the first person who introduce decision balance Sheet. Franklin described this process to Joseph Priestley In a 1772 letter ,which is now often called the Ben Franklin method.

 

Sometimes when we are faced with an important decision, we spend a lot of time looking for a solution hoping to avoid making the wrong choice. One of the popular tool to decide what to do is using the Decision Balance Sheet. This method enables the team to make more confident and balanced decisions. A table is used to record and represents the advantages and disadvantages of an idea or situation for the purpose of reaching to a decision quickly. This situation might be a problem that needs to be solved or a condition that needs to be changed or evaluation of solutions/ideas proposed for implementation.

 

A decision balance sheet is basically a table of two columns labeled as Pros and Cons. This table is used to capture all the pros and cons for the proposed/suggested idea or situation. A scoring system can be used by giving numerical weights to the different pros and cons which will help to take decision easily. The result will help team to decide whether to go ahead with the decision or not.

 

PMI is one of the version of this tool, which stands for Plus, Minus and Interesting. one Interesting column is also used when the elements of the proposed solution/idea are not particularly of positive or negative effect. It can also be used to record what team consider interesting and the future implications of the idea. Decision balance sheet can be used in a four-cell matrix consisting of the pros and cons in the short and long term. This is very useful when the decision is of strategic nature.

 

Method to Use the Decision Balance Sheet:-
Below steps explain the use of decision balance sheet:
    Clearly write down the solution / idea/decision at the top of a flip chart or whiteboard.
    Make a table of two columns, Name/Heading one “Pros” and the other “Cons”.
    Write Down all possible benefits in the pros column and all possible negative effects in the cons column.
    Assign numerical weights to the pros and cons by giving a score from one to five. Be objective while scoring.
    Sum the scores in each column then subtract the total cons from the total pros.
    Use the overall score to decide whether to go ahead with the decision or not.
    Team needs to identify other factors that they may have missed. Use your common sense when team suspect that the reached result is not appropriate.

 

Example:

As an example, let’s say that one cross functional team wants to decide whether to go for a new website for the organization or keep the existing one.

The final score suggests that team should go for a new website.

 

Another Example:-

Decision balance sheet may also be used in personal decision-making. let's take one example of a personal decision balance sheet where the challenge is to decide whether to accept a new job offer in another city.

 

Let's take one more Example of decisional balance sheet for someone experiencing alcohol problems
	Plusses	Minuses
Continue drinking as I am	It's what my friends do It makes me less anxious It's fun being drunk I like the taste	I get into fights Health problems Divorce threat Debts I can't remember things the next day
Cut down	I can still meet my friends It will help my health	Will my partner believe me? Can I stick to it?
Stop drinking	I won't get into fights any more It will please my partner It will save money Good for my health	I might have to avoid my friends How will I cope with anxiety? What will I do for fun?

Any evaluation may change and often the cells are inter-connected. For example, looking at the table above, if something were to happen in the individual's marital life (an argument or the partner leaves or becomes pregnant or has an accident), the event can either increase or decrease how much weight the person gives to the elements in the balance sheet that refer to the relationship.

 

Decision Balance Sheet is a tool to shortlist and prioritize a solution by making correct choice using this approach.  What this approach does is doing bifurcation between solutions by listing their pros and cons, which helps the project team to weigh the options before they make final selection.  For any successful solution it is very important we make certain criteria's which are measure of success for the solution and meet the requirements.  Decision Balance sheet what it does is, list the all features expected of the solution and perform rating against what are the plus and minus against these parameters for the solutions in consideration.  The scoring helps in making the final decision to shortlist the solution for adoption.

 

Example of Decision Balance Sheet:

Team is working on transforming a vendor helpdesk process and one of the identified opportunity is need of a workflow solution as in the current process requests are received in an email and tracking is a challenge.

 

There are 2 options which project team has leverage a BPaas Solution or platform like SNOW/Enate etc or internally the automation team can build a customized solution in SharePoint.   Now how PM should decide which one to go with and Decision Balance Sheet helps making the choice by comparing the pros and cons of both the solutions.

 

Here are the factors to be considered and team can use a 5 point scale to rate both the options for these parameters:

Factors                                                                                               SNOW or 3rd Party Platform               Home Developed

Ease of Implementation

Time it requires to operationalize the solution

Scalability of the solution

Business Analytics

Cost of implementation

Maintenance

Recurring cost

 

So overall score will help us making the choice and informed decision.  This is what Decision Balance sheet makes decision very easy and objective.

 

A decisional balance sheet is a tabular / grid based method for depicting the pros and cons of different options which helps to decide what to do in a particular situation. Sometimes when we are faced with an important decision, we spend a lot of time looking for a solution hoping to avoid making the wrong choice. One of the simplest ways to decide what we shall do in a particular situation is Decision Balance Sheet. It is a quite simple however a very powerful and effective decision-making method that enables the team to make more confident and balanced decisions. 

It is said that decisional balance sheet was first used by Benjamin Franklin. In 1772, Franklin described his own use of the method, often called the Ben Franklin method. It includes making a list of pros and cons about a decision, estimating the importance of each one, eliminating items from the pros and cons lists of roughly equal importance until one column is dominant. In 1959, Irving Janis and Leon Mann coined the phrase decisional balance sheet and used the concept as a way of looking at decision-making.This approach / technique is quite often used in working with ambivalence in people who are engaged in behaviors that are harmful to their health (for example, problematic substance use etc.), and in certain circumstances in motivational interviewing too.

Another corollary of this tool is PMI which stands for Plus, Minus and Interesting. An Interesting column is used when the elements of the idea are not resulting into positive or negative effect. It can be used to record what you consider interesting and the future implications of the idea. E.g. Pursuing a new hobby say painting where there are no as such plus and minus but you are taking it forward as it interests you.

 

How Decisional Balance Sheet Looks ?

 

A decision balance sheet is simply a table of two columns called as Pros and Cons. This table is used to record all the pros and cons for the given idea or the proposal. You can also use a scoring system by giving numerical weights to the different pros and cons. The result will help you to decide whether to go ahead with the decision or not to go with it. (Images shown in examples below)

 

How to Make and Use the Decision Balance Sheet ? 

 

Steps :

i) Clearly write down the situation or idea at the top of a flip chart or whiteboard.
ii) Draw a table of two columns, name one “Pros” and the other as “Cons”.
iii) Record all possible benefits in the pros column and all possible negative effects in the cons column.
iv) Give numerical weights to the pros and cons by assigning a score from one to five. Be objective while scoring.
v) Sum up the scores in each column and then subtract the total cons from the total pros.
vi) Consider the overall score to decide whether to go ahead with the decision or not.
vii) Take time to identify other factors that you may have missed. Remember to use common sense too when you suspect that the reached result is not feasible.

 

Some of the Real Life Examples and Applications of Decisional Balance Sheet :

 

DECISIONAL BALANCE SHEET – GO FOR PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE OR NOT

	PROS	CONS
CHANGE (Go for it)	i)               It will reduce the unknown / unscheduled                             failures (+5) ii)              Will reduce the unplanned downtime (+4) iii)             Will help in avoiding the accidents and improve                   workers safety (+5) iv)             Will improve company’s brand image (+4)	i)               There will be cost incurred on it (+3) ii)              Additional Efforts needs to be put in making                   the schedule (+2) iii)             There is downtime involved of machines as                     per schedule (+2)
NO CHANGE (Don’t Go for it)	i)              Cost Savings due to no downtime for                                    Preventive maintenance ii)             Increased availability of machines iii)            Savings of Resources (Man Power) involved in                      making the schedule iv)            No impact on the Production	i)             There may be frequent failures and                                 downtimes ii)            Unexpected downtimes / failures may lead                     to high revenue loss or costs iii)           Stress / Pressure to resolve the issue                               immediately iv)           Safety concerns for workers and Brand image                 of company will hamper

 

DECISIONAL BALANCE SHEET – CHANGE JOB AFTER CERTAIN TIME OR STAY AT SAME COMPANY

 

	PROS	CONS
CHANGE	i)              Fast Growth in Career / Position (+5) ii)             Higher Salary Increase (+4) iii)            New Skills Learning (+5) iv)            More Connects in Industry (+4) v)             Exposure to different Cultures (+3)	i)              Instability  / New Comer's Risk in New                              Organisation (+5) ii)             Uncertainty in New Environment (+4) iii)            Establish your connects from scratch (+3) iv)            Work Harder to settle and for Growth (+2)
DON’T CHANGE	i)               Job Security ii)              Less Efforts to Survive iii)            Comfort Level iv)            Good Knowledge about existing company                      (People / Culture / Connects etc.)	i)              Slow Growth Rate ii)             Less Increments in Salary iii)            Stagnancy in Skill / Career iv)            No knowledge about outside world /                                technology v)              Less Personal Development due to working                     in same culture / environment

 

DECISIONAL BALANCE SHEET – DO NEW CERTIFICATIONS OR WORK AS USUAL

	PROS	CONS
CHANGE (DO CERTIFICATIONS)	i)              New Skills Learning (+5) ii)             Fast Career Growth (+5) iii)            Sense of Achievement (+5) iv)            Stay Relevant & Avoid Obsolescence Risk                     (+4) v)              More Connects outside (+4)	i)                Extra Efforts on certifications may impact                        routine work (+2) ii)              High Certifications Cost (+2) iii)            Impacts personal time / space due to                             weekend efforts (+3)

 

Summary : If we look at the above examples, it is evident that scores in favor of Preventive Maintenance, Change Job after certain time period and Do Certifications are high (Basis Personal Assumptions and scoring) and hence decisions may be taken in favor of these events. 

Decisional Balance sheet is one of the Simple and effective Tool used for Decision making process.  This Tool will compare the alternative solutions and captures the Merits & De-merits of each solution in terms of Scoring / Weightage, and if the Final score turns to be Positive then we can go ahead for the Decision.

 

In Simple terms, it is a table that represent the Pros/Cons of the Idea/Solution. The decision needs to be taken might be related to the Problem that need to be solved or condition that needs to be changed. It also helps to speed up the final decision-making process.

 

Example: The Company would like to decide on Launching the New version of the Mobile Phone with Increased Battery Backup.  The company is closely evaluating the Pros and Cons of the impact of decision.

Score Measured in the scale of 1 to 10.

 

Pros (+)	Cons (-)
Increase Market share (9)	Increase in Cost (5)
Increase in Sales/Revenue  (7)	Increase in weight of the Phone (4)
Increase in Customer Base  (8)	Increase in the size of the Phone (3)

 

In the above example, the Total score for Pros is 24 and Total score for Cons is 12, so in this case Company should go ahead with the decision of Launching the Mobile Phone with higher battery backup.

 

In Summary, Decisional Balance sheet is one of the Effective tool used in Decision making process.  

Decision Balance Sheet

At times when we face situations that requires an important decision, we spend much time searching for a solution while hoping to avoid making incorrect decision. The situation may be  a condition that requires to be changed, or a problem that demands to be solved. Decision Balance Sheet is one of the simplest method to decide what to do.

Decision Balance Sheet is simple and yet an effective method of decision-making  which allows  a team to make balanced decisions confidently. It utilizes a record in tabular format that represents the disadvantages and advantages of an idea for the purpose of arriving to a decision as quick as possible.

There will always be positives and negatives to each decision made. Decision Balance Sheet is  important tool because it keeps us mindful of the reasons we are doing the exercise and the obstacles which may get into our way.

Decision Balance Sheet guides to decide whether to go for or against a given situation  or a proposed change, improving the understanding of the idea, helps avoid paralysis decision-making  and speeds up the process of decision-making. It's very useful especially in teamwork environment when we need to encourage team members to  reach  consensus by considering multiple perspectives.

Decisional Balance sheet

 

WHAT is Decisional Balance sheet: It is an important Continuous improvement toolkit. It is a key tool to understand why change is essential and what could be the pros when we implement and cons when we don’t implement the change.

 

WHY: Change to better is a continuous process.  It is important that we influence individuals, teams to know how important the change is and what is in it for them to adopt and before that consciously they take a decision.

 

HOW: In a certain circumstance and as and influencer, change manager, you want to convince your team or an individual on the options, choices and help them understand the situation better. It is one of the decision-making techniques. It is also called balance sheet because it gives you the positives, pluses, assets when you adopt to it and negative, minuses, liabilities when you ignore it.

I would like to bring the present situation, pandemic and lay out this decisional balance sheet for each one of us.

  

 

Decisional balance sheet for some of them not wanting to get vaccinated to fight the pandemic

	Pluses / Pros	Minuses / Cons
Not getting vaccinated and not following safety rules	Infection will not come to me I am physically strong and can deal with it as I could deal with so many other viruses	Isolation & mental stress Health problems Financial stress Highly restricted social life and you pass on the infection to others Adding on to the increasing numbers
Getting vaccinated	Feel secured and mentally strong Equipping myself to fight the virus Supporting the cause of not getting infected and transferring the virus.	How will people know whether I am vaccinated or not? Can I lead a normal life, while there are so many restrictions?
Getting vaccinated and following safety rules	A responsible citizen It makes me less anxious No financial stress and health problems Can you do day to day work with confidence	Overprotective Will there be more vaccinations to take?

 

 

What can be further added to this is a number to score the positives and negatives. Which can help us to weigh the pros Vs cons.

Decision balance sheet is used to take important decisions and select the best solution and prevent making wrong decision. It is an effective decision making method to take balanced decisions. Pros and Cons are tabulated. Short term and long term pros and Cons are listed. It is useful in a team to encourage multiple perspectives to reach a consensus. Weightage is given to different pros and cons for scoring and choosing best option. We need to be objective while scoring. Subtract total cons from total pros for each column on the table. This is used for both business and personal decision making. For example take important decision of making a move and accepting new job offer. Extension of this tool is PMI which stands for plus minus and interesting.

Decision Balance Sheet is the simplest way to decide what to do when you are faced with an important decision and you want to save time looking for the best solution and avoid making wrong decision. It helps the team in making more balanced and confident decisions being a simple and effective decision-making method. It represents the advantages and disadvantages of an idea or a situation, in a tabular form, with the intent of reaching a decision quickly. The situation can be a problem faced or a change to be introduced.

The decision balance sheet aids in:

·         Deciding either to go in favour of or against a problem or change proposed

·         Helps in improving the understanding of the situation or idea

·         Speeds up the decision making

The tool is particularly useful in a team working environment when you need to encourage team members to consider multiple perspectives to reach a consensus. However, in order to compare different options and to deep dive into those, it is recommended to use other decision-making techniques.

In simple word, a decision balance sheet is a table of two columns labelled as Pros and Cons. The table is used to capture all the pros and cons for the given problem/change. A scoring system can be used, by giving numerical weights to the different pros and cons and the resultant score will help in deciding whether to go ahead with the problem/change or not. Another component Interesting can be added if required to capture the elements which are neither Pro or a Con and can be considered as the future implications of the idea.

Example:

An organization wants to decide on going ahead with moving to a new website

The final score here suggests that the organization should go for a new website.

Decision Balance Sheet is a simple but effective decision-making technique that allows the team to make more promised and balanced decisions. It uses a tabular record to signifies the advantages and disadvantages of an idea or situation for the purpose of reaching to a decision quickly. This situation might be a problem that needs to be resolved or a condition that needs to be changed.

The decision balance sheet helps identify whether to go for or against a given problem or a proposed change, improves the understanding of the idea or situation, supports avoid decision-making problems and speeds up the decision-making process. It is particularly useful in a team working environment when you need to encourage teams to consider multiple perspectives to reach a consensus. However, when you have to compare different options or explore some options in more details, other decision-making tool may be more appropriate.

A decision balance sheet is basically a table of two columns labelled as Pros and Cons. This tabular format is used to record all the pros and cons for the given solution or situation. You may use a scoring scheme by giving numerical weights to the different pros and cons. The result will help you decide whether to go ahead with the solution or not.

A simple extension of this technique is the PMI which stands for Plus, Minus and Interesting. The Interesting column is used when the basics of the idea are not particularly of positive or negative effect. Also you can make  the decision balance sheet in a 2X2 consisting of the pros and cons in the short and long term. This tool is especially useful when the decision is of strategic nature.

 

As an example, let’s say that the team wants to decide whether to go for a new website for the company or keep the old one

 

Based on the final score here suggests that should go for a new website.

 

Decisional Balance Sheet

 

 

Sometimes you are faced to make some important decisions & you spend a lot of time searching for a right solution in a hope to avoid making any wrong choices. One of the simpler way to do is by using a Decision Balance Sheet. It is an effective decision-making method that enables to make more balanced and confident decisions. The Decision Balance sheet is a tabular form of method to represent the pros and cons of choices in order to help make decisions in a certain situation.

The decision balance sheet helps making decisions based on the inputs received from various team members while analyzing the situation. Based on the inputs, it is easy to decide to go for or against a given problem or a change, helps improve the understanding of the situation & speeds up the decision-making process. In this exercise, the team members are encouraged to consider different perspectives to be able to compare options.

 

We will use a simple example of a family who wants to decide if they should change the school for their child or not. We will be using the decision balance sheet in this example and mention the pros and cons of this idea.

To make the decisions easier, we will also use a scoring system by giving numerical weights to the pros and cons. With this, the result & decision will be clearer & easier to make.

 

Pros	Cons
Improved Quality of education (5)	Increased cost as other schools have higher fees structure (-4)
Option to move to international board (3)	Time to settle in new environment   (-1)
Better teachers in new schools (4)	No known friends in new school (-2)
Reduced school time (2)	More number of assessments in new school (-3)
14	-10

The final score here suggests that parents should opt for new school.

 

Another example of using Balance sheet for a personal decision of moving to new city for a job. The challenge is to decide weather to accept the new offer in another city.

Pros	Cons
New experience (2)	Relocation to new city (-4)
Higher salary benefits (4)	Stress of staying away from family alone (-3)
Experience of meeting new people (1)	Uncertainties (-2)
More job options for future in new city (2)	Pollution & traffic (-2)
9	-11

 

The final scores suggest that he should not relocate for a new job.

 

Decision Balance Sheet.

It is a simple but constructive decision-making method that allow the team to make more confident and objective decisions. It uses a tabular track record to represents the advantages and disadvantages of a plan or situation for the reason of reaching to a conclusion quickly. This situation might be an issue that needs to be solved or a state that needs to be changed.

 

The decision balance sheet helps determine whether to go for or against a stated problem or a proposed change, refine the understanding of the idea or state, helps avoid decision-making paralysis and pace up the decision-making process. It is extremely useful in a team working surroundings when you need to motivate team members to consider multiple view to reach a consensus. However, when you must collate different options or explore few options in more details, other decision-making techniques may be more appropriate.

 

A decision balance sheet is directly a table of two columns mark as Pros and Cons. This table is used to document all the pros and cons for the given design or situation. You can use a scoring system by providing numerical weights to the different pros and cons. The result will help you to conclude whether to go ahead with the decision or not.

 

How to Use the Decision Balance Sheet:

The following steps narrate how to use the decision balance sheet:

• With your team, distinctly write the situation or design at the top of a flip chart or whiteboard.
• Draw a table of 2 columns, one “Pros” and the other “Cons”.
• Record all feasible benefits in the pros column and all feasible negative effects in the cons column.
• Give numerical weights to the pros and cons by allocate a score from one to five. Be unbiased while scoring.
• Add the scores in each column and then subtract the total from the total pros.
• Examine the overall score to determine whether to go ahead with the decision or not.
• Take time to pinpoint other factors that you may have missed. Recollect to use your common sense when you feel that the reached result is not appropriate.

Below is the sample Decisional Balance worksheet for Joining a "weight loss group"

 

 

Decision Balance Sheet:

Decision Balance sheet is a simple tool which helps in making decision by comparing the advantages and disadvantages of both the scenarios where we are going ahead or not going ahead with the change or the solution proposed.

 

 

How Decision tree can be made.

1. We need to create four quadrants as shown in the picture, each quadrant represents a different Scenario

    a. 1^st quadrant (Top left): Represents the disadvantages if there is no change/ Solution proposed is not implemented

    b. 2^nd quadrant (Top right): Represents the advantages if there is no change/ Solution proposed is not implemented

    c. 3^rd quadrant (Bottom left): Represents the disadvantages if the change/ Solution proposed is implemented

   d. 4^th quadrant (Bottom right): Represents the advantages if the change/ Solution proposed is implemented

2. Mention all the advantages and disadvantages in all the quadrants

3. Now we need to take into consideration the two most quadrants (1^st quadrant and the 4^th quadrant) as comparing this will tell us the benefits that we will receive if we go for the change along with the disadvantages if in case we don’t go ahead with the change.

 

It helps in the following ways:

1. Helps in making the definite decision as in a single glance the advantages of the change and the disadvantages of no change can be seen

2. It helps in reaffirming, why we are going for the change

3. It improves the understanding of the change and people are bound to see both the positives and the negatives of the change.

4. It speeds up the decision making

5. The only drawback that it has is that it is difficult to compare different options of the change

All the published answers have clearly explained the concept of a Decisional Balance Sheet with some very interesting personal or behavioral related examples. The answers by Eka Pillai, Mahesh Kumar and Rahul Garg have been selected as the best answers as they have given examples of usage of this tool in both professional and personal decision making.