Decision-Making

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Decision-Making

Many groups meet to solve problems or make decisions. Read to learn more about how groups can effectively accomplish their task objectives and then complete the interactive exercise at the end of the discussion.

Standard Agenda	Developed by John Dewey, reflective thinking8 involves a careful, systematic approach to a problem. Groups who use reflective thinking to make their decisions use of a six-step guide called the "standard agenda." Go to the Georgia State University site at http://www2.gsu.edu/~dschjb/wwwcrit.html to read "GSU Master Teacher Program: On Critical Thinking" concerning reflective thinking and groups. Also try "The Academic Agenda -- What Do We Owe Our Students" at www.usask.ca/vpacademic/speeches/speech2000 on the University of Saskatchewan's site to read about the concept of standard agenda as it applies to the educational experience. Problem identification. What is the problem? What is wrong with the current situation? Problem analysis. View the current situation as a balance between restraining forces and helping forces. What are the forces in play in your group's situation? Criteria selection. What are the goals of the final decision? Solution generation. Generate as many solutions as possible. Avoid groupthink by listing many solutions. Solution evaluation and selection. Measure each solution against the criteria from step three. Solution implementation. Enact the chosen solution.
Brainstorming	Another option for decision-making is brainstorming. When brainstorming, group members are encouraged to generate as many ideas about a particular topic as they can. For instance, group members may use brainstorming to generate as many solutions as they can in step four of the standard agenda. Group members should be encouraged to say anything that comes to mind when brainstorming. Every idea is written down and judgments about ideas are saved until later, when the group returns to all of the ideas and selects those that are most useful.
Nominal Group Technique	Nominal group technique is a group decision-making tool used when the group must rank order a set of options. In order to use the nominal group technique, group members work individually to list all alternatives to a problem or issue. Sometimes, nominal group technique is used after a brainstorming session is held. Then, the group facilitator asks each group member to individually rank all of the options from lowest to highest priority. Finally, the facilitator computes an average score for each idea. the lowest score is the highest priority for the group. For example, if six group members were discussing problems on campus and they assigned parking the scores of 1,1,2,2,1,1, it would have an average score of 1.3. Another problem, lack of activities, may have received ranks of 2,2,1,1,2,3. Its score would be 1.8. Parking would be the most important priority. Nominal group techinique is a good way to have all of the group members voice their opinions and discussion is not dominated by a few vocal group members.
The Final Decision	There are many ways that a group can make a final decision, decide on a solution, or come to agreement. Some of the most popular ways of making the decision include: ·  Consensus: The group members all agree on the final decision through discussion and debate. ·  Compromise: Through discussion and readjustment of the final plan, group members come to agreement by giving up some of their demands. ·  Majority Vote: The decision is based on the opinion of the majority of its members. ·  Decision by Leader: The group gives the final decision to its leader. ·  Arbitration: An external body or person makes a decision for the group.