'Decision Making' can be defined as
the process of analyzing the given situation and its alternatives
and making decisions based on it by choosing the most suitable
action. When this decision making is done together by more than two
people, it is called 'Group Decision Making.'
Yes, I have been part of the
groupthinking process on several occasions in
school/college.
(A) Some of the common
problems with the group decision making are-
- As there are many people involved
in making one decision, there is a failure in properly analyzing
all the alternatives due to the main focus being - reaching a
unanimous decision.
- Due to a lot of discussion and
brainstorming, the decision-making process in a group is slow.
- There is a lack of visualization.
With many members present, the future implications get ignored and
the main focus is just to make a decision for the current
situation.
- Sometimes, there is a bias towards
a particular alternative. This leads to improper analysis of the
rest of the alternatives leading to a biased decision.
(B) Ways to reduce these group
decision making struggles are-
- Take time to analyze all the
alternatives carefully so that the chance of a biased decision
reduces to a minimum.
- There should be a healthy debate
where all the members of the group are heard. It is important to
listen to and acknowledge every members' idea to reach a common,
unbiased decision.
- Make a leader in the group which
can guide the group to a fair decision.
(C) Causes of such experiences
in the group thinking dynamics are as follows-
- Usually, a large number of people
in a group leads to a chaotic experience. This leads to ineffective
decision making.
- Many a time, some people in the
group are not able to share their different viewpoints as the
majority of the group is inclined towards one decision.
(D) How to prevent these
problems specifically in my future group
exercise-
- By hearing out the opinions of each
and every member in the group.
- Encouraging debate.
- Proper analysis of all the given
alternatives.
- Charting out the given alternatives
in order to promote effective visualization.
- Making a leader in the group to
guide the group towards an unbiased decision.'
- In case of a large group, resort to
the voting method in order to understand the ideas and preferences
of each and every member.