Making Effective Decisions

Using evidence and diverse perspectives to reach sound conclusions, and being able to justify decisions under scrutiny.

What this behaviour means

This behaviour is scored on your reasoning, not just your outcome. Assessors want to see that you gathered relevant evidence, considered more than one option, and can explain why you chose what you chose — including what you'd have done differently with more time or information.

What assessors are looking for

• What evidence or information you actually gathered before deciding
• That you considered at least one genuine alternative, not just the option you picked
• Awareness of risk, and how you managed or accepted it
• A clear rationale you could defend if challenged

Common mistakes

• Describing a decision with no visible reasoning process behind it — it reads as a guess that happened to work
• Picking an example where there was really only one sensible option, which gives the assessor nothing to score
• Focusing entirely on the outcome and skipping the actual decision-making process

How to structure your STAR example

Situation

Describe the decision that had to be made and why it wasn't obvious — genuine trade-offs, incomplete information, or time pressure.

Task

State that the decision (or the recommendation) was yours to make, and what was at stake if you got it wrong.

Action

Walk through what you actually did: what you checked, who you consulted, what options you weighed, and why you ruled the others out.

Result

Give the outcome, and — this is what separates strong answers — a brief, honest note on what you'd check differently next time.