Team Decision Making-Part Two

Six common methods of team decision making exist.  They are:  lack of response, authority rule, minority rule, majority rule, consensus, and unanimous consent.  One method is NOT always better than another.  Each method is useful at the appropriate time.  Each method affects the way the group will work together (the storming and norming phases).  It is important that the leader guide the team members to choose a decision-making method which appropriately fits the amount of time available, the history of the group, the nature of the task, and the work climate.

Lack of response is the most common method.  Someone suggests an idea, but before someone else comments on it, another person suggests something different. Authority rule functions under command decisions.  This method is efficient, but often results in lack of ownership from the team.  Decision by minority rule is something everyone has experienced.  A few members dominate the discussion and force decisions. Decision by majority rule involves voting.  This may be used to break a deadlock, but a high percentage of decisions made this way end up not being implemented.  A decision put into action by a 6-4 vote, is most likely doomed. Use of consensus to make decisions is very effective. Time is taken to ensure everyone understands the goals and decision.  Even if some members don’t share the majority view, they clearly understand it and have agreed to support it.  The final method is decision by unanimous consent.  True unanimous consent means that every team member truly agrees on the decision as being the best they could develop.  To achieve this takes an incredible amount of time.


To help keep the team on course, a decision-making model can be followed for some decisions.  This involves defining a decision to be made, setting criteria, seeking alternatives to any idea posed, selecting the best alternative, developing an action plan with people responsible and timelines set, and evaluating the effectiveness of the decision.  The key for a leader is to ensure that teams don’t speed through the steps and ignore some.    A problem is defined, some ideas are tossed out, and then a plan of action is developed.  This may doom the solution to fail, as other ideas weren’t considered.  Or, even worse, the problem wasn’t defined well enough and correct criteria weren’t established.

To learn more about how to practice this understanding, contact Results Group, LLC at www.ResultsGroupLLC.com or 515-330-2866.

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