I had not thought much about it prior to this week, but I
recently realized that group participation in decision-making is not always
optimal. In the journal article,
Educating Managers for Decision Making & Leadership, Victor Vroom noted
that, “[p]articipation slows down the decision making process. The elapsed time required to make the
decision generally increases with the amount of participation” (2003, p.
969). Vroom also noted that, “group
meetings, particularly those seeking consensus among divergent views, can “use
up” endless hours, leaving proportionally less time available for implementing
decisions or meeting the other requirements of one’s job” (1969).
I have seen this phenomenon in practice during projects
where time was a critical factor. This
analysis paralysis placed a great deal of stress on the team and caused
tensions to rise when the project leader became dismissive, angry, and
authoritarian. While the project leader
may not have acted in the best interest to team cohesiveness, ultimately, he
was correct to take the decision away from the team. Maybe he could have been more tactful in his
approach or not presented the problem to the entire team. Vroom’s time-driven matrix (2003, pp. 968-978)
or another such model may have been useful in determining which approach to
take.
Cited
Vroom, V.H. (1969). “Industrial social psychology”. Handbook of social psychology. (vol. 5,
pp. 196-268) Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.
Vroom, V.H. (2003). “Situational factors in leadership”. (pp.
969-978). In Chowdry, S (Ed.). Organizations.
Financial Times/Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.
