Decision Making in Groups

We engage in personal decision-making daily, and some decisions are more difficult than others. When we make decisions in groups, we face challenges we do not face in our personal decision-making, but we also benefit from some advantages of group decision-making.

Group decision-making can appear fair and democratic but it can cover up the fact that certain group members or the group leader have already decided. Group decision-making takes more time than individual decisions. It can be burdensome if some group members do not do their assigned work, divert the group with self-centered or unproductive role behaviors, or miss meetings.

Conversely, group decisions are often more informed since everyone develops a shared understanding of a problem through discussion and debate. The shared understanding may be more complex and deep than what an individual might develop because group members bring various viewpoints that can broaden their perspectives.

Group decisions also benefit from synergy, an advantage of group communication we discussed earlier. Most groups do not use a specific method of decision-making, perhaps thinking that they will work things out as they go. This can lead to unequal participation, social loafing, premature decisions, prolonged discussion, and other negative consequences. In this section, we learn some practices that prepare us for good decision-making and some specific techniques we can use to help reach a final decision.