Team Decision Making

Good team decision making is a critical element of team performance. It involves examining the decision context (e.g., current program environment, assumptions, constraints, pressures, stakeholder inputs, etc.), determining who needs to be involved in the decision, verifying how much time is available to make the decision, and deciding on the decision-making process.

Generally accepted team decision-making methods:

• Unilateral — One person makes the decision, usually the team leader. Variations:
  • Directive or Authoritative — The person making the decision does so primarily using his/her knowledge, experience, and program guidelines/constraints, but is also influenced by his/her own reasons and motives.
  • Consultative — The person making the decision may seek input from other team members, but ultimately, he/she still makes the decision on his/her own.
• Majority — Each team member votes, and the majority decides the course of action.

• Consensus — Team members may not completely agree with the most preferred approach, but they have the opportunity to express their point of view, understand the logic behind the decision, and support it. Consensus is generally the preferred decision-making method for most team issues, especially when the commitment of all team members is important.

  Guidelines for achieving consensus:

  	Don’t try to force consensus. Listen to other positions and reactions before expressing your own point.
  	No winners or losers. Don’t assume that someone must “win” and someone must “lose” if the discussion reaches a stalemate.
  	Don’t avoid conflict. Don’t change your mind simply to reach agreement and maintain harmony.*
  	Avoid majority votes, compromises, or horse trading to reach an agreement.
  	It’s OK to disagree. Differences of opinion are natural and expected.

*Note: Avoid groupthink — a phenomenon where team members become so concerned about preventing disagreement or conflict that they abandon critical thinking to simply go along with whatever consensus seems to be emerging.