Chapter 11: Group problem-solving

Which group decision making techniques are effective in yielding higher quality decisions?

-Devil's advocate -dialectic method

Freewheeling and piggbacking

-all ideas are considered even crazy ones -combine, embellish or improve on other ideas

Problem solving has been delegated in many organizations to employees and project teams resulting in the following benefits:

-generate more alternatives/ideas -final decision is better understood by the group -empowers employees and gains their commitment -develops employee skills

programmed decisions

Decisions encountered and made before, having objectively correct answers, and solvable by using simple rules, policies, or numerical computations.

nominal group technique

Generating and evaluating alternative solutions to a problem -silent generation of ideas -round-robin recording of ideas -discussion of ideas -voting and ranking

Green Light/Red Light

Green mode = Expansive Phases -creative imagination -sensitivity -empathy with other people Red mode = Contraction Phases -analysis -criticism -logical thinking -coping with the external environment

Challenges of this stage: -failure to gain commitment of the right people -failure to assign clear responsibility for each task -failure to follow up/monitor implementation process

Implementation Analysis

Delphi Technique

Participants don't engage face-to-face discussions. Their input is solicited by mail/email

Challenges of this stage: -avoid defining the problem in terms of its solution -avoid biases and preconceptions -mistrust and threat can cause workers to withhold information -saying what management wants to hear

Problem Analysis

The Kolb Model of Group Problem Solving

Problem solving does not proceed in a logical, linear fashion from beginning to end. It is more wave like, characterized by expansions and contractions - moving outwardly to gather information and then focus inwardly for analysis/decisions. -green light/red light -believing/doubting -divergence/convergence

Challenges of this stage: - avoid accepting a problem as a given -pressure to be realistic -conflicting viewpoints -threat of isolation (which can lead to groupthink and conformity)

Situational analysis

Challenges of this stage: -assuming only one right answer -getting stuck on first solution/failing to consider other solutions (primacy effect) -anxious to finish

Solution Analysis

Stages of Decision Making

Stage 1: Situational Analysis What's the Most Important Problem? Stage 2: Problem Analysis What are the Causes of the Problem? Stage 3: Solution Analysis What's the Best Solution? Stage 4: Implementation Analysis How Do We Implement the Solution?

Implementation Analysis

Task: Ensuring the solution is successfully implemented Role: Coordinator - Work to accomplish the tasks with other people Participation: Enlist the appropriate involvement of others who are essential to carrying out the problem solution Planning: Define the tasks, identify individuals, set deadlines, plan for monitoring and evaluation

Solution Analysis

Task: Generating ideas about how the problem can be solved and assessing their feasibility Role: Inventor - Creatively searching for ideas and then evaluating them against feasibility creative Idea Getting: Identify as many ideas as possible (brainstorming) Decision Making: Evaluate ideas against criteria that an effective solution must meet

Problem Analysis

Task: Understand and define the problem thoroughly Role: Detective - Gather information, creating scenarios, using the scenarios to gather more info to prove or disprove initial conclusions Information Gathering: Gather all the necessary information (e.g., talking with people, reviewing data and procedures, brainstorming, etc.) Problem Definition: Build a model portraying how the problem works

situation analysis

Task: determine the right problem to tackle Role: leadership-identify the values and goals involved and which are the most important priorities for action Visioning/Exploration: envision what is possible; what is the desired goal Priority Setting: trial and error exploration of whats going on in the situation

Devil's advocate

assigning someone the role of critic

Group Decision-Making Techniques

brainstorming, nominal group technique, delphi technique, devil's advocate and the dialectic method

The dialectic method

calls for managers to foster a structured debate of opposing viewpoints prior to making decisions

Group decision making organizations:

consultative, consensus, democratic

Brainstorming

generating alternative solutions to a problem

Consultative

leader consults with members

Consensus

leader shares problem and together they generate/evaluate problem/solutions

Non programmed decisions

new, novel, complex decision having no proven answer.

Democratic

problem given to group and members empowered to make the decision

Problem solving

the essence of management is problem defining and problem solving