Are all voices equally heard, or are some people afraid to speak up? Are participants in the meeting afraid to contradict senior management?
Group decision making gives room for diversification of ideas and options to choose from because more potential scenarios are considered before a decision is made. Though people are encouraged to speak up in groups, sometimes senior members discourage some junior members from speaking up their mind. Group decision making requires full participation, and this is not always the case in most meetings, and even if all the ideas could be equally aired, they may not be equally prioritized.
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In my last internship, I have attended several meetings. The meeting was composed of different parties who met to negotiate or decide on further objectives. The meetings were not always fruitful, but there were instances when the decisions were reached after discussing with the group. In most of the meetings I attended, the parties met to decide which market the firm should target next as well as the potential clients or investors for the project. Most of the meetings were composed of board members of the firm, the marketing team, and the management. However, not all voices were equally heard during the meeting. More specifically, the marketing manager's voice was not equally heard. However, due to the open culture of the organization, all participants in the meeting were not afraid to air their views in the meeting. This is because the director of the firm encourages all parties to air their ideas.
Is time spent at the meetings productive, or is a lot of time wasted?
Apart from the meetings I attended that involved negotiations, the time spent in all the other meetings was productive. This is because no time was wasted in following up on the views of the attendants when sharing their views. This facilitated the decision making process as democratic decisions were taken. With regard to meeting that involved negotiations, a lot of time was wasted. This is because most of the stakeholders took a lot of time to revalue their interest and again recall a meeting after a certain time interval. Sometimes, these meetings could last for weeks to evens months.
Are the decisions that are made solid ones? Or do they suffer from problems mentioned in the background materials such as groupthink?
There were cases when the viewpoints of the majority were suppressed. As a result, it raised the issues of groupthink. According to Kenton (2019), groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when parties in a group reach a consensus without evaluating the outcomes of implementing the decision or without critical reasoning. The culture of the organization and the participatory approach used during the meetings helped the management take several solid decisions. However, even after decisions were made in the group, the senior management was responsible for making the last call, and groupthink played a vital role in it.
Are ideas expressed at meetings creative and original, or are original ideas discouraged?
Given the variances in situations and market conditions, the ideas expressed in most of the meetings were creative. The meetings were designed to encourage the parties or departments involved share their views and generate new ideas. More to this is that the management always encouraged the members of the group to share their views and ideas during the meetings.
Based on what you've described in Questions 1–4 above, what kind of group decision-making process would you recommend to be used in meetings you attend? Base your answer on readings from the background materials such as Rao (2009), Bolland and Fletcher (2012), and Sims (2002).
In order to ensure the group takes effective decisions, I would recommend the use of the Delphi Technique in the meetings I attend. The Rand Corporation developed the Delphi Technique, and this technique represents a systematic way of collecting and organizing views presented by group members during meetings (Sims, 2002). The technique starts by presenting the issue to the group members. The group members then share their views and ideas. Next, the group manager compiles the views and ideas provided by the members and then shares the views with all the members (Sims, 2002). The members are then given a chance to comment on the ideas of the other members. If a consensus is reached, the decision is made.
References
Kenton, W. (2019). Groupthink. [Online]. Retrieved from: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/groupthink.asp . Accessed October 12, 2019.
Sims, R. (2002). Managing organizational behavior. Westport, Connecticut, USA: Greenwood Press.
