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Group Decision Making

A great deal of time is spent in meetings formulating problems, arriving at solutions, and determining the means for implementation. Thus, it is important to know when decisions should be made with groups, and when individuals should make them. If there is one individual who is an expert and can solve the problem, an individual should make the decision. Individual decisions can be made quickly, and responsibility can be clearly assigned.

However, if there isn't an expert, a group decision should be made. Groups can identify more alternatives than an individual. A group brings a diversity of experience and perspectives to a decision process that an individual acting alone cannot. If the people affected by a solution take part in its creation, they are likely to facilitate implementation and contribute to its success. Thus, group decisions are more accurate, creative, and readily accepted.

Yet, group decision making can be ineffective. The assigning of responsibility is clear in an individual decision. In a group process, individual responsibility is diluted. The group decision takes more time than the individual decision. Members differ in rank, experience and knowledge, and a minority may dominate the group. Social pressures can create groupthink, which undermines critical thinking and harms the quality of the decision.

Groupthink is a term describing a type of thinking that leads to poor decisions. Irving Janis (Victims of Groupthink, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1972, p. 9) defines groupthink as a model of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members' striving for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action . . .. Groupthink refers to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing and moral judgment that results from in-group processes.

Group Conflict

Some conflict is necessary for a group to perform effectively. Conflict, the perceived incompatible differences that result in interference or opposition, is natural and inevitable in any group. During the course of performing its tasks, conflicts inevitably arise. The supervisor wants functional conflict to support group goals, rather than dysfunctional conflict, which prevents a group from achieving its goals. It is important to remember that not all conflict is dysfunctional. Supervisors might want to stimulate conflict to increase the group's performance or to address several questions (Are subordinates afraid to question you? Do subordinates always answer "Yes"? Are subordinates afraid to admit ignorance and uncertainties to you? Is there a lack of new ideas?)

The goal is to create an environment where conflict is healthy, regarding the methods for achieving goals. The supervisor manages group conflict by helping to identify the source of conflict and the issues and parties involved. He or she must stem the tide of disruptions and help generate options. Conflict can be stimulated by bringing in outsiders, restructuring the organization, appointing a devil's advocate, changing the organization's culture, and using communication. The supervisor must choose the conflict resolution tool that is best suited for the situation and the supervisor's ability to use a method.

Avoidance, or just withdrawing from suppressing conflict is preferred when the conflict is trivial, or emotions are running.

Accommodation, placing another's needs above one's own, is a viable option when the issue under dispute isn't more important to one group than another. This helps create harmony and build 'credits' for a later time when an issue may be more important.

Forcing, satisfying one's own needs at the expense of another's, works well when a quick resolution is needed, or when an unpopular action needs to be taken.

Compromise requires each party to give something of value. This strategy is best when there are equal parties involved such as labor management contract negotiations.

Collaboration, a win-win solution, occurs when all parties seek to satisfy their interests. It is possible when there are few time constraints, when the parties involved want a win-win solution, and when the issue is too important to compromise. Collaboration is the preferred method for resolving conflict since the parties in the conflict can satisfy their own needs while simultaneously meeting the needs of the other members, a win-win solution. All members are viewed as people who can amplify each other's abilities. In other words, participants collaborate with others in the expectation that the benefits will outweigh the costs. This method works successfully if both parties are interested in resolving the conflict and the parties in conflict are able to communicate actively and easily.

Techniques for Improving Group Participation

The use of participating groups is not the same as democratic decision-making -- one person with one vote and the majority rules. Voting tends to polarize the group's members into winners and losers. Having people feel like losers produces problems in decision implementation that are not present when consensus is reached. Consensus is a form of participative decision making in which the entire team is consulted and all members accept a decision, a win-win situation for the group.

Group participation depends on free association and social facilitation. Free association is a process of producing ideas in rapid succession with a minimum of inhibiting or restraining action. The supervisor presents the original stimulus word or idea to the group. The free association it produces stimulates a chain reaction of additional ideas. Social facilitation is a process in which the productivity of each individual is increased by the stimulation provided by other group members.

Increasingly, organizations are recognizing that collaborative relationships - those defined by mutual learning and shared creation - are at the core of innovation. Ideas are not just exchanged, they are jointly discussed, debated and created. There is no one best technique for improving group participation since situation and decision-makers differ greatly. The supervisor should choose the technique that best fits the situation and the group membership.

Brainstorming, developed by Alexander F. Osborn (see Applied Imagination, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953), is one of the oldest and best-known techniques to use social facilitation to stimulate creative problem solving. The supervisor promotes an atmosphere conducive to free association and encourages freewheeling, uninhibited thinking. Brainstorming encourages unrestrained and spontaneous participation by group members. Quantity of ideas is important. Members are encouraged to generate alternatives without the threat of criticism. All responses are recorded for later discussion and analysis.

In a team meeting, a supervisor can use the brainstorming process to encourage open, honest communication and the free flow of ideas. For example, the supervisor might say:

1. This is a safe zone. Anything said here will not be held against you.
2. No personal accusations allowed. We cannot change someone else's personality, but we can affect his or her behavior.
3. Give any idea expressed here a fair hearing.
4. We are here to improve our work, so focus on the work. If there is anything I'm doing that is keeping you from your work, I want to know about it. If there are any resources that you need to do your job better, tell me. Look at the person sitting next to you and say, "It would help me in my job if you . . ."

Many meetings are stifled by politics and unequal participation. Hours can be wasted without reaching firm decisions or creating bold new strategies. In 1958, a research study at Yale University showed that a group of individuals working alone collectively produced more unique ideas than they produced working together. (See Thomas J. Bouchard, "Whatever Happened to Brainstorming?" Industry Week, August 2, 1971) Nominal group is a group of people working independently rather than interacting with each other. Nominal Group Technique (NGT) limits discussion among present, independently operating members who gather and are presented with a problem. They individually write down ideas. In turn, each member presents one idea to the group. Once all ideas are presented and recorded, a brief discussion clarifies issues. Then, each member independently ranks the ideas. The idea with the highest ranking is the chosen solution.

Technology can be used to help reshape and revitalize the meeting process. Planning, facilitating collaboration and documentation are emphasized. The supervisor plans the meeting, prepares the agenda, facilitates the meeting itself and runs the software. At the conclusion of the meeting, the supervisor prints the meeting documentation that aids in follow-up.

NGT can be used in an electronic meeting, which is faster than a face to face meeting. The electronic meeting spurs creativity and increases productivity by allowing meeting participants to contribute equally and anonymously. Up to fifty people can participate by sitting in a horseshoe formation outfitted with computer terminals. Issues are presented and responses are typed. Individual comments and aggregate responses are posted on a projection screen.

The supervisor troubleshoots problems, provides assistance when requested, and asks probing questions to get the team to talk through problems. Delphi technique is a form of group decision-making in which members never meet face to face and equal participation is structured by the use of written questionnaires. A problem is identified and members are asked to anonymously provide their solutions through a carefully structured questionnaire. Each member receives a copy of the results and is again asked for solutions. This process continues until consensus is reached.

Synectics utilizes a carefully selected creativity team and an experienced leader whose task it is to structure situations that force participants to deviate from their usual modes of thinking. It focuses on the act of mentally taking things apart and putting them back together as a means of furnishing new insights. The term synectics comes from the Greek word synectikos, which means "bringing forth together" or "bringing different things into unified connection." Synectic theory uses trigger mechanisms to catalyze new thoughts. One of these synectic triggers is empathizing, which involves putting yourself in place of the subject. In order to arrive at creative solutions, existing thought patterns are inverted, transposed, distorted, and modified by role-playing and fantasy exercises.

*Copied from http://ollie.dcccd.edu/mgmt1374/book_contents/4directing/consensus/consbldg.htm

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