Techniques to improve group decision making

Nearly in every stage of the group development from Forming, Storming, Norming, Perofrming until Adjouring, the group decision making is routine to every members.

Edgar Schein, a noted scholar and consultant, observes that groups may making decisions through any of the following six methods:

1). Lack of response;
2). Authority rule;
3). Minority rule;
4). Majority rule;
5). Consensus;
6). Unanimity.

The choice among decision making should be made with a full awareness of both the potential assets and liabilities of group decision making.

With regard to the resource input, hot to make "best possible" decision to achieve high levels of task accomplishments, memeber satisfaction and team viability?

In order to take full advantage of the group as a decision-making resource, care must be taken to manage group dynamics to balance individual contributions and group operations. A particular concern is with the group process losses that often occur in free-flowing meetins, such as committee deliberation or staff meeting on a specific problem. In these settings the risk of social pressures to conform, domination, time pressures and even highly emotional debates may detract from the purpose at hand.


Here are some settings in which special group decision techniques may be used to improve group decision making as advantage:


1). Brainstorming;
2). Nominal Group Technique (NGT);
3). Delphi Technique;
4). Computer-mediated Application for decision making.