Collective decision-making methods in management: milestones and examples

Making decisions for the manager is a constant and fairly responsible work. It is carried out literally with all the actions of leaders at any level, helping to formulate goal setting and leading to their achievement.

Making a decision concerns not only the manager. It affects the employees of the organization, and sometimes the whole team. That is why to achieve success it is so important to understand the nature and essence of such actions, which will make it possible to achieve success in the field of management.

In order to make the decision as effective as possible, the manager should consider a number of factors. The use of targeted cross-functional teams, whose members must be selected from various levels and units of the organization, will make this possible.

Collective decision-making methods are the most effective way of thinking. After all, their use allows us to speak with confidence about the maximum objectivity of the received expert assessment. This is due to the involvement of a representative and wide range of specialists.

Group Benefits

Consider the advantages and disadvantages of collective methods. Their advantages are as follows:

1. Getting more complete information. When involving a group in the decision-making process, one can observe a variety of points of view based on the experience gained by each of the specialists included in it. This becomes impossible for one person.
2. Development of many options. In connection with the use of a large amount of information by the group, many points of view are subject to discussion. Such an advantage of collective decision-making methods is especially evident in cases where a team is assembled from representatives of different specialties. The multiplicity of suggestions and thoughts, as a rule, leads to the appearance of more useful options than in the case of each individual employee.
3. The maximum likelihood of team approval of decisions. It often happens that a company does not achieve its goal. This happens due to the disagreement of employees to implement the decision brought to their attention. If the direct executor takes part in its adoption, then in the future he will certainly begin to implement it and will ensure that his colleagues do the same.
4. Great legality. Collective decision-making methods are consistent with the democratic ideals of society. That is why the opinion expressed by the group is perceived by many people as having more legal force. A decision taken individually, and besides, by a person who has full power, is often perceived as tyrannical and dictatorial.

The disadvantages of group methods

What can be attributed to the disadvantages of teamwork? Among them:

1. Significant expense of time. It is impossible to quickly assemble a group. It takes time for a team of employees to develop a single solution. A similar disadvantage is deprived of the action of one person.
2. Minority power. Members of a formed group will never have the same position. They will differ from each other by their status in the organization, work experience, knowledge of the problem, the ability to express their own opinions and ideas, as well as personal confidence. Such an influence will certainly lead to the fact that one or several members of the group will begin to use their advantage and will “press” others. As a result, the dominant minority is able to influence the adoption of the final version.
3. Group pressure. In the decision-making process, most team members want to be “like everyone else”. This happens under the influence of a formed team. This leads to the appearance of a phenomenon called template or group thinking. In this case, the person either does not have his own opinion at all, or refuses him in favor of the majority opinion. Template thinking is a kind of submission. With her presence, team members abandon unpopular or non-standard points of view just to create the appearance of agreement with the majority. All this negatively affects the effectiveness of group decisions.
4. Lack of a clear distribution of responsibilities. For the decision made, all members of the group are responsible. But with whom to ask for the final result? When making a sole decision, the answer to this question is obvious. But no one is responsible for the results of the work of the group.

Team Matching

At the first stage of using collective decision-making methods in management, it is necessary to create a working team. As a rule, it is a temporary team, which includes both managers and performers. Such a team is a target association of employees that goes beyond the organizational structure of the company.

Among the distinctive characteristics of the group created for management decisions, the following can be distinguished:

1. Division of leadership among members.
2. The presence of complementary skills.
3. The presence of personal and mutual responsibility.
4. Creating a product that can provide a synergistic effect.
5. Evaluation of the effectiveness of activities by the final result.
6. Joint decision making and enforcement.

Team roles

According to the theory of R. Belbin, in each group created to make the optimal managerial decision, the most effective collective work is possible provided that its members fulfill the following nine roles:

1. Idea's generator. This is a person whose task is to advance new strategies. At the same time, this team member will have to focus only on the main problems that the group has to solve. The generator of ideas should be a seriously thinking person, an individualist, and at the same time open to the perception of fresh ideas.
2. Resource Researcher. This team member must discover and communicate new ideas and developments that take place outside the team. By nature, such a person should be an extrovert, interested, curious and sociable.
3. Coordinator. This member of the group is by all means confident in himself and a mature person with the qualities of a leader. His task is to define common goals. Leading the decision-making process, the coordinator must skillfully delegate authority.
4. Motivator. It is dynamic and stimulating to other people. While working in a team, he should not lose his temper even in the most difficult situations. The motivator needs to have courage and pressure, which will allow the group to successfully overcome the obstacles that arise.
5. Critic. The task of this team member is to analyze problems from a pragmatic point of view. The critic evaluates the proposals and ideas received in such a way as to direct the team towards making a balanced decision. This person, playing the role of a skeptic in the team, needs to have common sense, prudence and discretion.
6. Working bee. The task of this team member is to turn concepts and plans into practical procedures. At the same time, a working bee needs to regularly and effectively fulfill all its obligations. Such a person should be sensitive, gentle and socially oriented. He just needs to be a good diplomat and adequately respond to various situations and actions of people, as well as take an active part in shaping the team spirit.
7. Prop group. The person playing this role will have to support the team and assist it in the most difficult situations, helping to create a good mood. In the group, he was assigned the role of a diplomat. By nature, he should be calm and confident, as well as controlling his own behavior.
8. Specialist. This team member needs to turn plans into reality. Such a person should be committed to the achievement of high standards in his professional field, as well as possess rare skills and knowledge.
9. The final one. It is important for this member of the team to maintain persistence among its members, to rid them of mistakes related not only to activities, but also to inaction. By its nature, it is important for him to be diligent, conscientious and diligent.

We turn to the consideration of specific methods of collective decision-making.

Brainstorm

It is believed that this method was invented by the ancient Vikings. This happened during the voyage, when their ship fell into a difficult situation. Then the captain gathered the whole team on deck. Each of its members alternately proposed their own solution to the problem. Moreover, the first to express their opinion were the youths, and the captain was the last to speak. The application of this order made it possible to exclude the influence of the authority of the senior team members on the opinion of the younger ones. But the final decision still remained with the captain.

The brainstorming method is characterized by an avalanche-like advancement of new ideas without a critical evaluation. This process occurs until the optimal solution. The task of this method is to develop the maximum number of options to find a way out of an uncertain situation.

There is a widespread belief that brainstorming is a kind of informal meeting at which employees express all that comes to their mind about a problem. On the one hand, this is indeed so. But since a brain attack is primarily a method that allows you to come to a solution to a problem, it has its own technology, and also has certain rules and steps. Their compliance can significantly increase the effectiveness of this method and develop the most effective and high-quality solution.

Brainstorming involves six steps. The first one is preparatory. It is necessary for the selection of people and the distribution of their roles. Then the leader is chosen.

What is the principle of group formation? Everything will depend on the task. For example, the participation of the entire department that deals with a particular issue is possible. But if you approach this stage with all responsibility, you should include in the group those employees of the organization who, in their official duties, have to deal with a problem.

One example of a brainstorming session is the solution to the problem of developing the idea of ​​an advertising campaign ordered by a baby food manufacturer. In this case, to discuss the issue, you need to invite designers and creators, as well as the head of the department. To participate in the team, you will also need employees of an advertising agency who have small children. Such workers themselves are likely to purchase this product, and their ideas can serve as the basis for developing the final version.

The second stage of the brainstorming method involves setting goals and objectives, which became the reason for this event. It is important here to explain in detail and intelligibly to each of the team members the essence of the problem. This will minimize possible misunderstandings. The team needs to provide as much input as possible. Such an action will be the main impetus for the start of the discussion.

At the third stage of using the method, a warm-up is carried out. Brains need it as well as muscles. Prior to the discussion itself, the group should “swing”. In this case, the lead is the leader. Any group game is suitable for warming up the brain. Just a few minutes, and the participants will be tuned in the right way.

The next step is the most important. It involves a continuous and active generation of ideas. The effectiveness of the final result directly depends on this stage. At the same time, any ideas can be put forward - fantastic, absurd and even unrealistic. The most important is the continuity of the process itself. The methods for obtaining information in this case can be very different. These are oral statements that require fixing by one person on paper, and writing ideas by each of the participants, which in the future will be subject to consideration.

At the fifth stage of the brainstorming, all ideas are ranked and evaluated. Either all members of the group or only the leader take part in their classification. Ideally, this should be done by a separate team of employees. However, such a condition for the application of the method is not required. After considering all the proposals, the weakest of them are eliminated. As a result, the best options remain. Their number depends on the productivity of the event.

At the final stage, the results of the brainstorming session are presented for general discussion. At this time, the group will have to switch from fantasy to rational thinking. That is why it is recommended to carry out such work a few days after the event.

Varieties of Brainstorming

This technique can be applied using various methods of events. Consider the most interesting of them:

1. Role playing. The essence of this method lies in the fact that each of the group members must try on one or another image. This allows him to feel as accurately as possible a certain situation. Based on the position of the role, an employee of the organization describes those feelings, ideas and thoughts that came to his mind. The main thing at the same time is to relax as much as possible, for which you can even change into your heroes. An example of a brainstorming session of this kind is the fulfillment of the task of creating product packaging. At the same time, team members must play the role of supermarket buyers.
2. "120 rooms." This method allows you to generate a hundred and twenty creative ideas in a fairly short time. To do this, group members must imagine a house in front of them. It has 120 empty rooms. The task of the team is to enter each of them, to feel the atmosphere and fill the room with a new idea.
3. Inverse method. The main task during this event is to search for the most unsuccessful solutions with their transformation into the most acceptable.

Delphi Method

This method of making collective decisions was developed in the USA in the 50s - 60s of the XX century. Its main task was to predict the impact of those scientific developments that were intended to be implemented in the future on the methodology of military operations. This method was developed in the American strategic center RAND.

Today it is considered one of the methods of forecasting and planning, which becomes possible when conducting an expert assessment. Its main feature is multi-level, anonymity, as well as correspondence. The basic premise for creating this method lies in the idea that the generalization and proper processing of individual assessments of a large number of experts regarding a particular situation will provide an opinion with a maximum of reliability and reliability.

The essence of the Delphi method is to find ways to determine the most optimal solution to the problem. How does this happen? The procedure is carried out using brainstorming, questionnaires and interviews. It is based on the opinion that the created team of independent experts will evaluate and predict the result much better than a structured group of ordinary people. Moreover, the team of specialists in this case can be selected so that its participants do not know about each other. This eliminates the clash of different opinions.

Two groups take part in the Delphic method. The first of them is created from experts who express their point of view on the existing problem. The second group is represented by analysts. They are necessary to bring the opinions of experts to one common denominator.

The method itself includes several stages:

1. At the first of them, the selection of members of the expert group is carried out. As a rule, this is 20 people.
2. At the second stage, the problem is stated. Experts, getting the main question, break it into several small ones.The task of analysts at this stage is to compile a questionnaire. Further, it is provided to experts who offer their own ways out of this situation, and also study the availability of resources and the relevance of the presented ways to solve the problem. Analysts consider the opinions of experts and try to bring them as close as possible. Similar steps are repeated again and again until a consensus is reached.
3. . , , .

, , . , .

. , .

The decision-making process when using this method consists in decomposing the existing problem into its components. This is followed by their breakdown into implementation methods. Next, work is done to compile all kinds of combinations. For the most promising of them, a project is being formed.

Analogy method

The essence of this way of making collective decisions is to try to eliminate the existing problem with the help of ideas that take place in other areas of science and life.

Over a period of time, this method of choosing alternatives was adopted so successfully that it became the basis for the emergence of a new science - synectics. The steps for applying this method are as follows:

• The identification of the causes of difficulties.
• Its ultimate expression, perceived by specialists in other fields.
• Descriptions of purpose and objective limitations.
• Highlighting a field of science or life where close solutions may be present.
• Selection of a team of specialists from the selected field of activity.
• Organizing and brainstorming.
• Interpretation of the obtained solutions.
• The selection of the most effective and feasible proposals.

Expert Assessment Method

Some management decisions must be made in the field of forecasting and planning the economic development of the organization. The implementation of these tasks is a complex, multi-stage process. It involves solving a wide range of scientific, technical and socio-economic problems. At the same time, various methods of forecasting and planning find their application. The most common of these are intuitive methods that are based on the use of logical thinking.

These include peer review. He concluded the application of intuitive logical thinking of a specialist. At the same time, it is combined with quantitative methods for evaluating and processing the results. The basis of the forecast when using this method is the opinion of a team of specialists with professional, practical and scientific experience.