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TEAM DECISION MAKING:Team Problem Solving Techniques, Concept of QC

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Leadership & Team Management ­ MGMT 623
VU
Lecture 30
TEAM DECISION MAKING
Discussion on decision making process was started in previous lecture/chapter. We tried to understand
various aspects of decision making including the process of decision making, types of decision making
etc. In this lecture we will try to apply that process of decision making and also to understand the team
decision making.
Apply decision making steps to the following situation.
"You want to buy a car"
To make a better decision following step will be taken and few question might need to be answered.
o  What is your situation?
o  SITUATION:
You want or need a car.
o  CHOICES:
What are your choices?
o  CHOICES:
Buy the car. Don't buy the car
o  CONSEQUENCES - YES You must spend your money for - Car Cost
On Insurance, on General Maintenance
and Gas/Petrol Charges
o  CONSEQUENCES - if YES
How will you pay for the car? -
You may have to work to pay for the car.
You may think about buying through Leasing etc.
o  CONSEQUENCES - if YES
How will your Study be affected?
You will have less time to study
o  CONSEQUENCES ­ if YES
How will your leisure and social time be affected?
You will have less leisure and social time.
o  CONSEQUENCES - NO
a. You will be able to save more money to buy a better car.
b. You will have more money to spend on clothes, buy computer,
motor-bike and fun.
c. You will have more leisure time.
o  DECISION
a. YES or
b. No
o  DECISION
Which decision would you make?
It depends on situation and priority of each individual. The consequence of each decision could be
different. Remember, some decisions will be good and some decisions will be bad. But you will learn
something from every decision you make!!!
Team Decision Making:
Use Individual Decision Making When:
o  You have the information to make a good decision
o  The situation is urgent
o  Subordinates are already committed or their commitment doesn't matter
Use Team/Group For Decision Making When:
o  No one knows the answer or the expertise is in the group
o  You want to increase the commitment of subordinates
o  The situation is not urgent in the sense that it requires an immediate response
o  You, as manager/leader, can live with choice
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Leadership & Team Management ­ MGMT 623
VU
Group/Team Decision Making
Advantages
Disadvantages
The process takes longer, so it is more
More information & knowledge are
o
o
costly
Available
Compromise decisions due to
More alternatives are likely to be
o
o
indecisiveness may emerge
generated.
One person may dominate the group
More acceptance of the final decision is o
o
Groupthink may occur
likely
Enhanced communication of the decision
o
may result better decisions
Methods of Group/Team Decision Making (Johnson & Johnson, 1991)
o  Decision by authority without discussion
o  Expert member
o  Average of member's opinions
o  Decision by authority after discussion
o  Majority control
o  Minority control
o  Consensus
Decisions made in groups can be made by one of four main methods.
o  Unilaterally by an individual
o  By simple majority vote
o  By consensus ­ everyone agreeing to support the conclusion
o  Subgroup of team
Which one is the best? There is no "best". Different types fit best for different situations.
Unilateral approach has one person make the decision for the whole group.
Pros
Cons
Some people might not understand
Enables you to move fast.
o
o
rationale for decision
Takes care of the small stuff.
o
Decision maker may make decision
Works well in emergencies
o
o
with inadequate info
Works well when one person has all
o
Generates less support for the decision
relevant information and is trusted
o
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Leadership & Team Management ­ MGMT 623
VU
Simple majority voting works when you don't have time for consensus building.
Pros
Cons
Breeds winners v. losers climate
Easy to use
o
o
Lessens creativity and flexibility since
Works when everyone has the same
o
o
difficult  to  consider  many  options.
information and already understands others
Sometimes it artificially limits choices.
Implementation can be handled by majority
o
Helps in managing large groups
o
Consensus means everyone supports a decision. It does not mean unanimity or that everyone gets
what they want.
Pros
Cons
o  Good for very important decisions
o  Takes the longest
o  Builds strongest buy-in
o  Requires highest level of communication
o  Make for quickest implementation
skills
o  Develops a group's problem solving skills
Subgroup of a team is appropriate under the following circumstances.
Pros
Cons
Appropriate when subgroup is only entity
o
When "pros" do not apply, this can result
o
affected
in conflict and dissent regarding decision
Decision  can  be  implemented  w/o
o
made by group
involvement of majority
Whole  group  is  comfortable  with
o
delegating authority
Relationship between type of decision and quality.
Team Problem Solving Techniques:
Consensus presenting opinions and gaining agreement to support a decision. A proposal that is
o
acceptable enough that all members are willing to support it. How can you reach a true consensus?
o  Identify all options and views
o  Build on common ideas
o  Discuss the differences
o  Propose alternatives or compromises to settle differences
o  Test consensus when you seem to have a conclusion by "doing a check". Go around room
and have everyone given their current opinion.
o  If consensus is not reached, repeat steps 1 ­ 5.
Brainstorming process to generate a quantity of ideas. In this technique the goal is. Goal - to
o
examine as broad a range of options as possible
o  Rules - Encourage free-wheeling - No discussion - No judgment - Write visibly all ideas
o  Sequence
o  Review the topic (as a question)
o  Minute or two of silence to think
o  Call out and write down ideas
Nominal Group Technique process to generate ideas and evaluate solutions.
o
o  A form of structured group decision making that enables everyone to participate and have
his/her ideas heard without hostile criticism or distortions.
o  A structured voting procedure is used to prioritize responses to the nominal question.
Stepladder Technique
o
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Leadership & Team Management ­ MGMT 623
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o  A decision making approach in which members are added one by one to a team.
o  Two people starts a discussion of the task.
o  Another member is added and then presents their ideas to the group.
o  Then another and so on until decision is made.
Delphi Technique process to generate ideas from physically dispersed experts.
o
o  Used in situations where group members are unable to meet face to face.
o  The process.
A series of questions is distributed to a panel.
Panel members submit their responses to a decision coordinator.
The decision coordinator summarizes the responses, and sends the summary along
with a follow-up questionnaire to the panel.
Panel members send in their responses.
The process is repeated until a consensus is reached.
Quality circles (QC): a small group of employees who work voluntarily on company time,
o
typically one hour per week, to address work-related problems
Quality team: a team that is part of an organization's structure & is empowered to act on
o
its decisions regarding product & quality service
Concept of QC
The philosophy behind the concept of QC is that responsibility of generating quality is
vested in the minds of all job related people instead of a few supervisor or inspectors. They
o  Identify problems
o  Collect and analyze data
o  Make cause-effect relationships,
o  Generate best solutions
o Computer-Aided Decision Making
o  Expert Systems: a programmed decision tool set up using decision rules
o  Decision Support Systems: computer and communication systems that process in coming
data and synthesize pertinent information for managers to use
o  Group Decision Support Systems: systems that use computer software and
communication facilities to support group decision-making processes in either face-to-face
meetings or dispersed meetings
Computer-mediated decision making. It is done through the electronic brainstorming through the use of
special software and personal computers. The nominal group and Delphi techniques lend themselves to
computer mediation
Potential Advantages of Group/Team Decision Making:
o  More knowledge and expertise is applied to solve the problem.
o  A greater number of alternatives are examined.
o  The final decision is better understood and accepted by all group/team members.
o  More commitment among all group/team members to make the final decision work.
Potential Disadvantages of Group/ Teams Decision Making:
o  Individuals may feel compelled to conform to the apparent wishes of the group/team.
o  The group's/team's decision may be dominated by one individual or a small coalition.
o  Group/team decisions usually take longer to make.
Improving Team Decision Making
o  Assign the devil's advocate role
o  Be open to dissenting points of view
o  Seek outside opinions
o  Break up into smaller groups
o  Rethink issues before making final decision
o  Use brainstorming
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Leadership & Team Management ­ MGMT 623
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Managing Group and Team Decision-Making Processes
Have each group member individually
Be aware of the pros and cons of
o
o
and critically evaluate all alternatives.
having a group or team make a
As a manager, do not make your
decision.
o
position known too early.
Set deadlines for when decisions must
o
Appoint a group member to be a
be made.
o
"devil's advocate."
Avoid problems with dominance by
o
managing group membership.
Hold a follow-up meeting to recheck
o
the decision.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION, ORGANIZATION THE STAGE FOR LEADERSHIP:Challenges, Value creation
  2. FOCUSING ON PEOPLE: THE KEY TO SUCCESS:People in the Process, Developing and Sustaining A World-class Workforce
  3. LEADERSHIP:Characteristics of Successful Leader, Why Study Leadership?
  4. LEADERSHIP (CONTD.):Characteristics of Leaders Who Fail, Why Leaders Fail?
  5. MANAGERS VS LEADERS:Characteristics, Effective Leadership, Respect for Diversity
  6. FOLLOWER-SHIP:Importance of Followers, Follower-ship Style
  7. LEADERSHIP PROCESS:Strategies for Cultivating Exemplary Followers, Important Traits of Leaders
  8. LEADERSHIP PROCESS (CONTD.):Qualities of Leaders, Self-Confidence, Integrity
  9. LEADERSHIP THEORIES/ APPROACHES:Personal Characteristics of Leaders, Managerial Grid
  10. CONTINGENCY THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP:The Fiedler Model, Situational Leadership Theory, Path-Goal Theory
  11. TRANSACTIONAL, CHARISMATIC AND TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP:Visionary Leadership
  12. THE LEADER AS AN INDIVIDUAL:Personality, Situation, Heredity, Environment
  13. ATTITUDE-PERSONALITY:Job Satisfaction, Work Situation, Self - Monitoring
  14. BIG FIVE MODEL, MYERS BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR (MBTI):Sub-Categories Defined, Information Gathering
  15. SITUATIONAL FACTORS:Social and psychological climate, Culture of the organization
  16. BECOMING A LEADER! WHAT DOES IT MEAN & HOW DO YOU GET IT?:Mission Statement, Leading oneself
  17. BECOMING A LEADER:Elements of Leadership, CONCEPT OF POWER,
  18. UNDERSTANDING POWER:Sources of Power, Responses to the Use of Power, Managing Political Behavior
  19. LEADERSHIP POWER & INFLUENCE:Positional Power, Being an Effective Leader
  20. LEADERSHIP AND EMPOWERMENT:Power sharing and Empowerment, Share Information
  21. MOTIVATION:Guidelines for Delegating, Human Resource Approach
  22. MOTIVATION AT WORK, MOTIVATION AND LEADERSHIP:What Factors Diminish Motivation in the Workplace
  23. LEADERSHIP COMMUNICATION:Communication & the Four Management Functions
  24. REVIEW-1:Organizational Performance, That is the Role of Management?, Leaders Vs Managers
  25. GROUP & TEAM CONCEPT:Groups versus Teams, Deciding When to Use a Team
  26. TEAM DYNAMICS:Stages of Group Development, Problem-Solving Teams, Benefits of Teams
  27. BUILDING THE TEAM:Leadership success requires, Strategies for Team Building
  28. A TEAM-BASED ORGANIZATION:Basic Steps, Span of Control, Categories of Decisions
  29. DECISION MAKING:Categories of Decisions, The Decision-Making Process
  30. TEAM DECISION MAKING:Team Problem Solving Techniques, Concept of QC
  31. EFFECTIVE TEAM COMMUNICATION:Team/Group Communications
  32. CONFLICT IN TEAM:Sources of Conflict, Scarcity of Resources, Dysfunctional Outcomes
  33. TRAINING/LEARNING OF TEAM:Training Methods, Phases of Learning Cycles
  34. LEARNING ORGANIZATION:A Litmus Test, Work Relations
  35. REWARDING & RECOGNIZING TEAMWORK:Compensating Teams, Individual or Team Rewards?
  36. MANAGING/LEADING VIRTUAL TEAMS:Communications in Virtual Organizations, Virtual Leadership
  37. EFFECTIVE TEAM MEETINGS:Better Meetings, Meeting Roles, Meeting Room Facilities
  38. LEADING TEAM:Team Leadership Structures, Leadership Demands and Duties, Leadership Direction
  39. REVIEW-II:Types of Teams, Characteristics of High Performance Teams, Sources of Conflict
  40. STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP:Strategic Management, Determining Strategic Direction, Developing Human Capital:
  41. LEADING CHANGE:Dynamics of Change, Change Models, Unfreeze
  42. CREATIVE LEADERSHIP:Awaken Your Senses, How Might These Definitions Be Integrated
  43. ETHICS IN LEADERSHIP:Character Traits Reflect Ethics, Manifests Honesty
  44. LOOKING AT THE FUTURE: WHAT COMES NEXT:Benefits of Teams, Ethical Leadership,
  45. TEAMWORK: LEARNING FROM NATURE:Social Behavior, Termites, Learning from Nature