Team Decision Making
Pitfalls and Solutions
L. Dubin, Spring 2013
Team Decision Making
 Many daily decisions are simple
 What to wear, eat, etc.
 Some decisions are very complicated
 Should I change jobs, move, etc.
 Decision making involves:
 Assimilating large amounts of information
 Exploring many different ideas
 Using our own/past experience
 On a team, the consequences affect:
 The entire team
 The Organization
(MindTools.com)
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Team Decision Making-7 Steps
Decision Making Steps:
Choosing among two or more alternatives.
1. Define the situation
2. Describe and collect needed information
3. Develop alternatives
4. Develop agreement among those involved
5. Decide which alternative is best
6. Do what is indicated
7. Determine if the decision
was good and follow up
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Team Decision Making
Why teams need to make good decisions:
 Good decision making is an essential skill for
career success and effective leadership
 Timely and well-considered decisions can lead
your team to success
 Poor decisions may result in failure AND
 Your time as a leader will be short
(MindTools.com)
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Decision Making Pitfalls
Group-Think (Irving Janis,1972)
“When a group makes faulty decisions as group
pressures lead to a deterioration of mental
efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment.”
Group-think may cause groups to make hasty,
irrational decisions, where individual doubts are
set aside, for fear of upsetting group balance.
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Decision Making Pitfalls
Group-Think (per Text)
 Team places consensus above all other priorities
 When the consensus reflects poor judgment or
improper or immoral actions
 A deterioration of mental efficiency & reality testing
 Result of pressure to have conformity of opinion
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Teams and Group-Think

Teams affected by group-think
 Ignore alternatives
 May make irrational actions
 Tend to dehumanize other groups
 Teams are vulnerable when
 Members are similar in background
 The group is insulated from outside opinions
 There are no clear rules for decision making
 What is groupthink?
http://psysr.org/about/pubs_resources/groupthink%20overview.htm
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How to Avoid Group-Think
 Monitor the size of the team
 Bigger is not better
 Teams with >10 members become impersonal
 Remember trust & respect/esteem?
 Support a small team
 Respect a small team
 Invite different perspectives
 Appoint a devils advocate
 Encourage problem solving
 Keep discussions civil and centered
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Effective Decision Making
Depends on





The type of decision
The amount of time and resources available
The type of task being worked on
The environment the group wants to create
The level of team member involvement or
investment
Pluses
Minuses and
Implications
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Decision Making Model
1-Orientation
Define the problem
Set the goal
Plan the process
2-Discussion
Gather information
Identify alternatives
Evaluate alternatives
3-Decision Making
Choose a group solution
4-Implementation
Adhere to the decision
Evaluate the decision
Seek feedback
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Problem Solving Techniques
SWOT Analysis
A powerful technique for understanding your
organization’s and team’s Strengths and
Weaknesses and for looking at the
Opportunities and Threats you may face
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Strengths: Internal
Strengths
 What advantages does your team have?
 What do you do better than anyone else?
 What unique resources do you have?
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Weaknesses: Internal
Weaknesses
 What items does your team need to improve?
 What skills are missing from your team?
 What types of projects should you avoid?
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Opportunities: External
Opportunities
 What opportunities are ahead?
 What interesting trends are you aware of?
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Threats: External
Threats
 What obstacles does your team face?
 What should your team be concerned about?
 Are the requirements for your team’s job,
products or services changing?
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