Effective decisions are essential for any business. The same applies to fleets. What are the main challenges in fleet decision-making?

Every business needs to make good decisions. Each business has its own set of challenges, as does fleet management. A sound decision-making process involves solving problems using different solutions and then deciding which path to take. However, this is often not an easy task and can lead to pitfalls. This post will focus on the major challenges faced by fleet management executives.

#1 - Information overload. Although having a lot of information can be seen as beneficial, if it isn't properly gathered or isn't available through a variety of means, it can make processing it all overwhelming. It is important to be familiar with how to find the most user-friendly data to aid in your decision-making process. Otherwise, you may feel lost and confused.

#2 - Not having enough information. Extremes are not always good. However, not having enough information to back up your decision is also bad. You should be well-informed to find the best solution to any problem.

#3 - Missing the problem. The issues that are causing your decision will usually be apparent in most cases. Sometimes, however, the issues surrounding your decision will be obvious. This situation can be mitigated by being able to do thorough research, get useful data, and talk to internal experts.

#4 - Belief in the outcome. Positive thinking is not to be dismissed. However, it is important that you identify realistic, feasible, and achievable options, rather than being unrealistically optimistic.

#5 - Impulsiveness. If decisions are made too quickly, stress, time constraints, or other circumstances such as pressure to choose a course of action can cause problems. Inadvertently, you might forget to consider the impact of a particular action on your team or skip key data.

#6 - Objectives and opinions. While it is normal to include other people in decision-making, you must avoid the halo effect (preconceived notions and prejudices based on appearances). Try and be coolly objective in your decision-making--compliance, safety and the business should be the priority--that's something you can only achieve with objective data.

#7 - It's not a one-off. You must follow up on any decision you make to confirm that it was correct. This could help you improve your decision-making and establish a precedent for future decisions.

A reliable source of fleet data such as the one provided by our fleet management systems can be a great help in dealing with the challenges all vehicle managers face at some point. Please let us know if we can help you.