The factors that will affect implementation of a decision are primarily those that were considered when the decision was being made. Various alternatives will have been considered in the process leading up to making the decision. There will be a number of variables that contribute to the totality of the alternative. Any change to any of these variables, however small, will influence the implementation process. Let's take a simple example - the family wants to go out for an enjoyable experience on Sunday. The joint decision is a picnic on Sunday at the beach. This will be a great idea if the weather is warm and sunny; all the members of the family are present; there is a transport to a suitable destination, with enough food and drink, that they like, available for each member of the family. Any change in any of the variables will mean the agreed solution has to be changed - the weather might be cold and wet, in which case the decision might be to go another day or go bowling instead. One member of family might not want to go, in which case the others could go on their own. The car might break down on the way to the destination. Each variable needs to be considered separately and independently. Some variables may be dependent upon each other - in our example, only one person might be able to drive the car. In summary, all the individual factors that contributed to the decision about the proposed solution need to be reviewed separately and independently if implementation is to be successful. The general way of controlling a decision is to create plan using techniques such as Gantt charts or project software via spreadsheets or the more sophisticated approach of PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE), which aims to manage, control and organise the project in question.
