Every project has multiple roads to completion. The first step is to identify each of the options before you. Now, let’s take a look at the four steps you need to master to use decision trees effectively. You’re now familiar with what a decision tree is and why decision tree analysis can be so beneficial to your project management efforts.
How to Use a Decision Tree in Project Management Have we convinced you yet of the importance of decision tree analysis? Great! Let’s move on to the next section where we’ll show you how to use this decision-making strategy in your own project management pursuits. Compatibility: The decision tree analysis technique can be used in tandem with other project management methodologies, allowing you complete flexibility as you manage your projects.Meaning, your tree can grow alongside your projects. Adaptability: Decision trees can be easily adapted to accommodate new ideas and/or opportunities.Efficiency: Building off the last point, because decision trees present information in such a straightforward way, they can be quickly analyzed and used to make crucial decisions.
When structured correctly, each choice and resulting potential outcome flow logically into each other.
The decision tree analysis technique allows you to be better prepare for each eventuality and make the most informed choices for each stage of your projects. The Benefits of Decision Tree AnalysisĪs a project manager, every decision you make presents both new threats and fresh opportunities. As you’ll see later in this article, a completed decision tree analysis graph looks like a tree, hence the name.
When the full potential scenario has been played out, an end node is used to signify the final outcome. From there, branches are drawn representing various choices and resulting in potential outcomes (i.e. In general, a decision tree analysis exercise begins with a single decision node, AKA a square. Each branch represents a potential choice and should be clearly labeled. Branches are what connect the nodes together.