Decision Making

1. Decision Making Ashley James & Tom Flammini October 8, 2013

2. Value of Decision Making Advantages • “Process gain” • Encouragement/good decisions • Understanding Disadvantages • “Process Loss” • Communication problems • Powerful group members • Side-tracked- leads to disorganization • Shooting down ideas- discouraging • Overuse

3. Approaches to Decision Making • Making group decisions • Consultative • Democratic • Consensus decision making • Quality, speed, acceptance

4. Normative Decision Making Theory • Addresses the problem & helps to make the best decision • Quality & Acceptance is important • Management skills Questions for Analyzing a Problem • Is a high quality decision required? • Do I have enough information to make such a decision ? • Is the problem structured? • Is it crucial for implementation that subordinates accept the decision? • If I make the decision alone, is it likely to be accepted by my subordinates?

5. Nominal Group Technique • Allows group to focus on completing one task while avoiding any social relations. • Does not require a true group. • Leader presents problem to group, group brainstorms privately. • Each member publically states answer, answers are recorded • This technique is relatively quick • Discourages the pressure to conform • Requires a trained facilitator • Only capable of addressing one narrowly defined problem.

6. Delphi Technique • Utilizes a series of written surveys to make a decision. • Facilitated by the use of open ended questions. • Results are summarized and organized into a set of proposed solutions. • Participants comment on solutions. • Good for groups that cannot meet in person. • Works well with large groups • Very time consuming (more than one month) • Requires skills in developing and analyzing surveys.

7. Ringi Technique • Japanese decision making technique. • Great for dealing with controversial topics because face to face confrontation is avoided. • A written document is proposed, resolution is anonymous. • Team members individually write comments. • Document is edited, forwarded to other group members. • Document is rewritten using the comments. • Document recirculates until group members stop writing comments. • Can be slow, no guarantees every group will come to agreement.

8. Reaching Consensus • Completely utilizes all resources • Encourages support for implementation of decisions • Helps build team skills • Does not mean every team member believes the solution is best • Consensus is reached when: • Are you willing to agree that this is what the team should do next? • Can you get along with this position? • Can you support this alternative?

9. Guidelines to Help Reach Consensus • Avoid arguing for your own position without listening to the position of others. • Do not change your position just to avoid conflict. • Do not try to reach a quick agreement by using conflict reduction approaches, such as voting or tossing a coin. • Encourage others to explain their position so that you better understand any differences. • Don’t assume that someone must win and someone must lose when there is disagreement.

10. Guidelines (continued) • Discuss the underlying assumptions, listen carefully to one another, and encourage the participation of all members. • Look for creative and collaborative solutions that allow both sides to win, rather than compromises where each side only gets some of what it wants.