Decision making and problem solving in groups
Group decision making and problem solving is much better than individual decision making. Groups can provide more information, resources, knowledge and experience than an individual could. Group decision making has several advantages that include Diversity, recollecting facts, detecting errors, creativity and innovation. However there are also some disadvantages take too much time, social barriers because of diversity, group think and group polarization.
There are three major methods of group decision making.
Leader decides
Voting
Through consensus
In organizations group decision making take forms of the following techniques
Brainstorming
Dialectal technique
Nominal technique
Delphi technique
According to my personal experience group decision making is one of the best ways to conclude on a solution. Apart from all the drawbacks and cons of groups, I have learnt that there are times when individually you cannot get the exact or planned result. With the help of group you can achieve an excellent decision whether it is at work or your personal life. This is because through group you have been able to consider all possible solutions which individually were not possible for you.
Introduction
Decision making and problem solving is linked together because a decision is made when a problem is considered to be solved. Both skills are required in every individuals life whether it be on a daily basis i.e. personal life or at work. Making decisions is an important aspect for leadership and management. A decision can only turn out to be good if it involves combination of skills, creativity in identifying alternatives, and clarity in judgment, determination, and successful implementation. Decisions are made when we want to achieve goals and also during existence of problems. Decision making differs from problem solving as the act refers to selecting among the alternatives that are already present while problem solving is the process taking place before the decision is to be made. However they are interlinked because decisions are to be made during problem solving process.
Thesis Statement
Decision making and problem solving in groups brings about a better result than making decisions individually. The famous saying two heads are better than one is true. This is so I believe because two can work better together to solve a problem than simply one persons effort. More can be achieved that individually may not be possible. Take for instance, democracy vs. monarchy. Today democracy is more appreciated than one persons ruling. However in this context, I would like to refer particularly in organizations and in general. Decision making that is taken on the basis of consensus is more likely to achieve better outcomes than wholly one person taking the entire responsibility.
Individual vs. Group decision making
Groups are better most of time in comparison to individuals because they can solve problems better, give more information and resources, provide a broader view, and spot faults among ones reasoning. However, a tradeoff exists because group problem solving involves an excessive time to be put on the structured procedures being followed. Also, group conflicts make it difficult to conclude on a decision. Group is better for problem solving when tasks those are conjunctive, where each member has little to contribute and requires more information from others. In this case, groups are better because multiple solutions can be provided and accepted by the members as there is a plenty of time to discuss and meet. Individuals on the other hand are better for the process when disjunctive tasks are concerned, where one can depend on hisher skillsability because there is no requirement of coordination or discussion (Galanes, n.d.)
Group decision making is likely to be more effective as systematic processes are used in an organized way and follows an overall plan for decision making. (Galanes, n.d.)
Benefits of Group Decision making
A group involves 2-7 people. They usually are formed informally or sometimes in a structured manner with an assigned goal. The process of arriving at decision could be structured or informal. Besides the size, other factors that affect group decision making include demographics, composition, and purpose. Time limitation and contradictory goals are the external factors affecting the effectiveness of the decision. (Hicks, 2004)
One of the advantages of group decision making is its diversity. Different qualities of the group members who come from different culture or demographics could bring diverse expertise to the group. In this way a group can come up with high quality alternatives for consideration than an individual could.
Diverse experiences- the pool of individual experiences from their personal lives and other could help bring about a good solution.
Superior remembrance of facts-number of people in a group overcomes the problem of forgetting information as in the case of individual working alone.
Greater satisfactoriness of decisions- because everyone has had their say into the decision, they tend to support it.
Finding errors- mistakes occurring is minimal when more than one is working.
Communal understanding- because all the members conclude the decision after considering all alternatives and through detailed discussion, everyone is well aware of the action that will be taken.
Creativity- in comparison to individual group may come forward with more creative and inventive solutions to the problems.
Collective responsibility- many people involved in the process would not burden anyone.
Simplifying complex decisions- groups can encounter difficult problem which individual may not be able to.
Group problem solving and decision making involves more knowledge of different members. There is a group acceptance to the decision. Because of enhanced and improved communication process better decision could be generated.
Drawbacks of Group decision making
It cannot be suggested that this form of decision making would always work nor would individual. It may be because of a diverse group, there would be social barriers and problems in the beginning stage to accept and respect each others view point. This eventually may slow down the process. But it should not be forgotten that handling the group efficiently would result in a high quality decision.
Other problem with groups is that they take too much time. That is why it is mentioned they should be used for conjunctive tasks only. Another issue is groupthink. This takes place when individuals tend to conform to the dominant view point in the group and where there are possibilities that all alternatives were not fully considered.
Lastly, another major problem is with the fact that group polarization occurs at times. This is the degree to which group takes risky decisions that individually one would not. This is because individuals do not hold them selves accountable in a group as much they would as if they were deciding alone.
Methods of Group decision making
Decisions in group can be made through different methods. They all have their pros and cons. The three usually used methods are as follow
Leader takes the decision-this method of decision making saves time. However, the disadvantage is that the accuracy may be limited as effectiveness of the decision lies on the group discussion. When ideas of the entire group are taking into account, the decision would more accurate and effective.
Voting- voting takes place on the decision of the majority. Because this is not a reliable method, it should only be used when there is lack of time and the decision is not so important.
Decision on consensus- this is the most difficult method as it requires a lot of time, effort, and group contribution. But the good thing is that it results in the best group judgment. It seeks to get acceptance from all the group members. Consensus is achieved when the group members accept the same option available. This results in a creative and innovative decision. Because each member agrees to the decision, it supports the step of implementing it i.e. action.
A problem in this method is that there may be one member of the group disagreeing with the decision. This is why consensus decision making is more effective as it considers the objections as well before taking any decision. Some of they ways a group can overcome the difficulty of blockage by a member are
Listen to other views vigilantly- ensure that you listen to other point of view before presenting yours.
Find an acceptable solution- the concept of this approach is that in the end every one wins. There wont be any losers. Thus agree on one solution.
Hear everyone- everyone should be given a chance to be heard. You must discover all the possible alternatives.
View disagreement positively-disagreements arent bad. Everyone doesnt start off disagreeing. Disagreements tend to examine commitments of the group, settle on how good the idea seems, and search for ways that the group will end up in a mutual agreement.
Group decision making in organizations
In organizations, some of the most common methods used for group decision making include
Brainstorming- in this step or method, members of the group suggest ideas verbally or alternatives to be chosen from. This is usually done in an informal way. Group members understand the problem as the situation to them is fully described. There is a group leader responsible for seeking ideas of the group members. Generating alternatives stage differs from evaluating alternatives as the members are not permitted to discuss the ideas until everyone has presented their ideas. Once the generation stage is complete, the group then discusses on the suggestions. Brainstorming is an unstructured method that does not involve much on ways to evaluate the alternatives to come to an action. A drawback of the method is that there are individuals who may hesitate to present their ideas with the fear of being judged by others.
Dialectical inquiry- this technique involves emphasis on considering all alternatives. Initially, it requires the division of groups into opposite sides, which debate on the pros and cons of the projected solutions. Similar to this is another method called devils advocate where one group member enlightens with the probable problems with a projected decision. Both of the techniques are used to ensure that group takes into account all the consequences of a decision.
Nominal Group Technique- this is a formal decision making technique where members of the group are suppose to make a broad list of their ideas in a form of writing. This process is done in private. Once this has been done, each member is asked to share one item at a time from their list to be discussed until all of alternatives are considered. In this process there is no permission to criticize or evaluate the ideas. Once all the ideas are proposed in public, then the discussion take place which closes on ranking of ideas in a sequence of preference.
Delphi Technique- organizations use this technique when individuals are present at different geographical locations. This group is formed on the basis of individuals particular knowledge and expertise of the problem. In Delphi method, every group member has to provide independent ideas or solutions to the problem in the upcoming stages. These alternative solutions are provided through email, fax, or in an online discussion or by bulletin board electronically. Every stage follows a question answer session where alternativesoptions are to be ranked in some manner. After many rounds, the group finally lands on a decision made on consensus to take best itinerary of action.
Personal experience
There have been many times in school when we are assigned a project in a group. I remember when I was in high school, in our English class we were asked to write a paper individually at first and then groups were made to check each others work. We had to do the brainstorming session, then the first and second draft. The final draft did not occur till our peers checked each others writing. This activity helped me get good grade because group suggestions and critics corrected and improved my writing piece. Once this happened, we were to sum up the information from our groups (additions, deletions, suggestions) and compile our work together in the final draft. I learned that individually you can do well but with the help of group you can achieve excellence.
There are many other experiences to share but the one most related to this topic was when in my e-commerce class in business school, we had to do a group assignment on making an e-business plan. Each group had to have a group leader and I was the leader of my group. Some of the problems I came across while doing the project was getting work done from group members. Because they all were my friends, it was hard to assign work to each as this would regard as if I am bossing them around. But since it was the responsibility of the leader to post meeting minutes to the teacher on his blog, I had to make sure I do that as it was the part of our grade. Apart from all the disagreeing on the group, we ended up with a great e-business plan on a salon. From the entire class our project was rated 1st including the presentation by the teacher.
Conclusion
From my experiences I have learned that working with a group does not always mean that every thing will turn out smooth and as planned but when the group is handled effectively, you can overcome all the negativities of group decision making. When it comes to group decision making in organizations, usually they follow a structured manner and procedures to carry out the problem solving process and come to a final decision. Because their decision will affect organizations operations they have to make sure they are successful in reaching group consensus.
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