Visible Group Decision example essay topic

Group Decision Making Let's define what is Group Decision Making, decisions made by committees, think tanks, teams and groups. They may include borrowers, lenders, producers, buyers, scientists and other experts, environmentalists, and real estate developers and so on. Decision making skills is one of the most important aspects of management. It involves personal and interpersonal skills, fact finding, logical thinking, creativity, analytical ability, sensitivity to others and assertiveness What are the key steps in making a decision?

Whether decisions are straightforward or complex, a systematic approach will lead to success. o Setting objectives An objective is a specific step, a milestone, which enables you to accomplish a goal. Setting objectives involves a continuous process of research and decision-making. Knowledge of yourself and your unit is a vital starting point in setting objectives. Strategic planning takes place at the highest levels; other managers are involved with operational planning. The first step in operational planning is defining objectives - the result expected by the end of the budget (or other designated) cycle. Setting right objectives is critical for effective performance management.

Such objectives as higher profits, shareholder value, and customer satisfaction may be admirable, but they don't tell managers what to do. They fail to specify priorities and focus. Such objectives don't map the journey ahead - the discovery of better value and solutions for the customer. The objectives must be focused on a result, not an activity, be consistent, be specific, be measurable, be related to time, be attainable. o Collecting information There are several ways to gather information.

You can collect information from people, documents, performance data, and observation of events. Also, there are a number of methods for gathering information, including traditional measurement approaches such as tests and ratings, as well as more investigative procedures such as observation, interviews, case studies, and literature review. Each of the chapters in this handbook contains key criteria for the development and use of an effective technology infrastructure. If you employ these criteria as a guide, the first part of your evaluation will really be an audit in the sense that you will be looking retrospectively at the work you " ve done and determining if it meets the needs of all end user so Identifying alternative solutions Once some solutions are found, try to find and alterative to each solution to see if it will work better than the original. o Evaluating options o Selecting the best option What techniques can I use when making decisions? These might include: o Brainstorming A brainstorming session is a tool for generating as many ideas or solutions as possible to a problem or issue. It is not a tool for determining the best solution to a problem or issue.

Before beginning any effective brainstorming session, ground rules must be set. This doesn't mean that boundaries are set so tightly that you can't have fun or be creative. It does mean that a code of conduct for person to person interactions has been set. It's when this code of conduct is breached that people stop being creative. The best way to have meaningful ground rules is to have the team create their own.

Try performing a mini-brainstorming session around creating brainstorming ground rules. It should provide a nice opportunity to practice the skills necessary for an effective brainstorming session. This also allows the team to take ownership of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. Only if the team hasn't addressed the key ground rules should you (as the facilitator) add to the list. Once the ground rules list is generated be sure to gain consensus that the session will be conducted according to them, and post them in a highly visible location in the room. o Lateral thinking Lateral thinking an unorthodox approach to problem solving, often looking at a problem from other sides rather than head on. In the face of fast-changing trends, fierce competition and the need to work miracles despite tight budgets, better quality and service are not enough.

Creativity and innovation are the only engines that will drive lasting success. Lateral Thinking is essential. Instead of linear or vertical thinking, which relies solely on logic, Lateral Thinking TM is a deliberate, systematic process of using your ability to think in a different way. These proven methods make insight, creativity, and innovation happen. We know creative thinking is a skill that can be learned and we will show you how with these methods. o Lack of Response The most common -- and perhaps least visible -- group decision-making method is that in which someone suggests an idea and, before anyone else has said anything about it, someone else suggests another idea, until the group eventually finds one it will act on. This results in shooting down the original idea before it has really been considered.

All the ideas that are bypassed have, in a sense, been rejected by the group. o Authority Rule Many groups start out with -- or quickly set up -- a power structure that makes it clear that the chairman (or someone else in authority) will make the ultimate decision. The group can generate ideas and hold free discussion, but at any time the chairman may say that, having heard the discussion, he or she has decided upon a given plan. Whether this method is effective depends a great deal upon whether the chairman is a sufficiently good listener to have culled the right information on which to make the decision. Furthermore, if the group must also implement the decision, then the authority-rule method produces a bare minimum of involvement by the group (basically, they will do it because they have to, not necessarily because they want to).

Hence it undermines the potential quality of implementation. o Minority Rule One of the most-often-heard complaints of group members is that they feel 'railroaded' into some decision. Usually, this feeling results from one, two, or three people employing tactics that produce action -- and therefore must be considered decisions -- but which are taken without the consent of the majority. A single person can 'enforce' a decision, particularly if he or she is in some kind of chairmanship role, by not giving opposition an opportunity to build up. For example, the manager might consult a few members on even the most seemingly insignificant step and may get either a negative or positive reaction. The others have remained silent. If asked how they concluded there was agreement, chances are they will say, 'Silence means consent, doesn't it?

Everyone has a chance to voice opposition. ' If the group members are interviewed later, however, it sometimes is discovered that an actual majority was against a given idea, but that each one hesitated to speak up because she thought that all the other silent ones were for it. They too were trapped by 'silence means consent. ' Finally, a common form of minority rule is for two or more members to come to a quick and powerful agreement on a course of action, then challenge the group with a quick, 'Does anyone object? ,' and, if no one raises their voice within two seconds, they proceed with 'Let's go ahead then.

' Again the trap is the assumption that silence means consent. o Majority Rule (Voting and Polling) More familiar decision-making procedures are often taken for granted as applying to any group situation because they reflect our political system. One simple version is to poll everyone's opinion following some period of discussion. If the majority of participants feel the same way, it is often assumed that is the decision. The other method is the more formal one of stating a clear alternative and asking for votes in favor of it, votes against it, and abstentions. On the surface, this method seems completely sound, but surprisingly often it turns out that decisions made by this method are not well implemented, even by the group that made the decision. What is wrong?

Typically, it turns out that two kinds of psychological barriers exist: First, the minority members often feel there was an insufficient period of discussion for them to really get their point of view across; hence they feel misunderstood and sometimes resentful. Second, the minority members often feel that the voting has created two camps within the group and that these camps are now in a win-lose competition: The minority feels that their camp lost the first round, but that it is just a matter of time until it can regroup, pick up some support and win the next time a vote comes up. In other words, voting creates coalitions, and the preoccupation of the losing coalition is not how to implement what the majority wants, but how to win the next battle. If voting is to be used, the group must be sure that it has created a climate in which members feel they have had their day in court -- and where all members feel obligated to go along with the majority decision. Summary Complicated issues often require the creation of a complex group and cooperation of the group's members to resolve the issues.

In order to achieve consensus between members, the group should employ a facilitator and apply rules and guidelines of behavior. The chances that a diverse group can attain the goal of consensus are greatly increased when the group follows an established set of rules with the assistance of a facilitator.