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Master Your Game: Group Decision-Making Processes

Guest post by: Jacque Small

Article Overview: You've outlined a tight agenda and designed an effective meeting process. The next step is to move discussion forward through efficient and effective decision-making. This article explains six decision rules and their appropriate uses.

Master Your Game: Group Decision-Making Processes

You've outlined a tight agenda and designed an effective meeting process. The next step is to move discussion forward through efficient and effective decision-making. This article explains six decision rules and their appropriate uses.

The Need for Decisions

In meetings, the point-of-decision is the point that separates thinking from action. From this point onward, reality will be reflected by the decision, and from now on objections are officially out of line.*

Decision-making involves these four distinct steps:

• Ending the discussion
• Clarifying the proposal
• Polling the group members
• Using the group's decision rule to reach a final decision.

A decision rule allows you to move forward. It answers the question "How do we know when we've made a decision?" There are more choices for the decision rule other than "what the chair says" and "by a show of hands." Here are some of them.


Six Decision Rules Recommendations

Depending on the nature of the topic and the importance, you may choose to have a standing decision rule for all decisions or a rule for each topic.

Whatever your choice, it's important that the group formally decides how to make decisions. This ensures that everyone knows what he or she is committing to.
1. Spontaneous agreement
Why: Fast, easy
When: Used when discussion isn't vital or the issue is not complex.

2. Person in charge decides
Why: Fast and accountability is clear, however may not be supported if the opinions of the group are not taken into account.
When: Low stake decisions are a good opportunity to practice using this rule. Use caution for high stakes decisions. Unfortunately, group members may say what they believe their boss wants to hear and may not express their true opinions.

3. Compromise
Why: A middle position is attained that incorporates ideas from both sides. Everyone wins and everyone also loses.
When: Used when two opposing solutions are proposed. The optimum strategy for this situation may be to re-open the discussion with an experienced facilitator to look for a more inclusive both/and solution. This will take more time and the success of implementation will be significantly increased.

4. Majority Vote. Usually taken by a show of hands or a secret ballot.
Why: Fast. Quality of the decision is increased by a full discussion of the issue taking into account other people's opinions.
When: Used when there are two distinct options.

5. Unanimous Agreement
Why: Collaborative effort that builds buy-in and a high commitment to implementation. May be time consuming.
When: Used when the importance of the decision being made is worth the time it will take to gain consensus.

6. Gradients of Agreement. After the proposal is clarified, group members are asked to evaluate the proposal on a predetermined scale that would indicate the degree of support. A predetermined scale might be as follows:
5 Total support with no concerns.
4 Support with minor concerns.
3 Support with significant concerns. Can live with it.
2 Disagree with it, but will go with majority.
1 Block. Cannot support it or be held accountable for implementation.

7. Why: Based on the dispersion of the votes, the person in charge will either make the decision or continue the discussion. In the case of a unanimous agreement, the decision rule might be that support is required at the top two levels by all members to proceed with a decision.
When: Used to assist the person in charge to make a decision or to modify the unanimous agreement rule.


Rate Your Decision-Making Effectiveness

How are decisions made in your meetings?

• Does one person make all the decisions, or is there a sharing of authority?
• Does the group generally make good decisions at meetings?
• Do we tend to end topics before getting into new ones?
• Do we work hard to make collaborative decisions that we can all live with?
• Are we clear when a decision has been made?


I have observed and participated in many meetings where the difference between having issues resolved or stalled was influenced by the way decision-making was handled. Introduce a decision rule to your next meeting and let me know how it affects your meeting dynamics. I would love to hear your success stories.

Wishing you effective meetings,
Jacque Small

*Adapted from a Facilitator's Guide to Participatory Decision-Making, Sam Kaner, Lenny Lind, Catherine Toldi, Sarah Fisk and Duane Berger

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Article Tags: decision rules, effective meeting



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