Goup Decision Making

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.

? 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.

? 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 ...

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...sunderstood 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.