When using groups to make decisions, what is one of the potential disadvantages?

Group decisions may involve assimilating a huge amount of information, exploring many different ideas, and drawing on many strands of experience. And the consequences of the right or wrong decision may be profound for the team and the organization. For obvious reasons, decisions made in groups can vary considerably from those undertaken by individuals. It is this potential divergence in outcomes that make group decision making attractive.

Group decision-making is a situation faced when individuals collectively make a choice from the alternatives before them. The decision is then no longer attributable to any single individual who is a member of the group. This is because all the individuals and social group processes such as social influence contribute to the outcome.

The decisions made by groups are often different from those made by individuals. There is much debate as to whether this difference results in decisions that are better or worse.

According to the idea of synergy, decisions made collectively tend to be more effective than decisions made by a single individual. Factors that impact other social group behaviors also affect group decisions. Moreover, when individuals make decisions as part of a group, there is a tendency to exhibit a bias towards discussing shared information (i.e. shared information bias), as opposed to unshared in formation.

Advantages of Group Decision Making

Group decision making provides two advantages over decisions made by individuals: synergy and sharing of information.

1. Synergy is the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. When a group makes a decision collectively, its judgment can be keener than that of any of its members.

Through discussion, questioning, and collaboration, group members can identify more complete and robust solutions and recommendations. The sharing of information among group members is another advantage of the group decision-making process.

Group decisions take into account a broader scope of information since each group member may contribute unique in formation and expertise.

1. Sharing information can increase understanding, clarify issues, and facilitate movement toward a collective decision.

Disadvantages of Group Decision Making

1. Diffusion of Responsibility

One possible disadvantage of group decision making is that it can create a diffusion of responsibility that results in a lack of accountability for outcomes. In a sense, if everyone is responsible for a decision, then no one is.

Moreover, group decisions can make it easier for members to deny personal responsibility and blame others for bad decisions.

1. Lower Efficiency

Group decisions can also be less efficient than those made by an individual. Group decisions can take additional time because there is the requirement of participation, discussion, and coordination among group members.

Without good facilitation and structure, meetings can be considered in trivial details that may matter a lot to one person but not to the others.

1. Groupthink

One of the greatest inhibitors of effective group decision making is groupthink.

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.

By isolating themselves from outside influences and actively suppressing dissenting viewpoints in the interest of minimizing conflict, group members reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints.

An individual cannot have all the information that is available to a group as it consists of several individuals.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

2. Diversity of views:

A group always has the advantage of varied views. This is because a group always has more than one member, and since every member is unique, there is bound to be a variety in their views also. This is also the reason why there are varied approaches to solving a problem. As group decisions tend to cover a greater area, they provide a better insight for decision-making.

3. Greater acceptability:

The views expressed by a group have more acceptance than those from an individual. This is because the decisions are not imposed, but are part of a larger consensus (general agreement). A group decision is automatically assumed to be more democratic, and the decision of an individual can be perceived as being autocratic (dictatorial).

ADVERTISEMENTS:

4. Expert opinions:

There may be some group decisions that require expert opinion. The group can either include experts or can call them from outside to form a separate group to take a decision on a particular issue.

5. Degree of involvement:

The members of a group feel involved with a given problem. This minimizes their resistance. It strengthens an organisation and facilitates decision-making.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

6. Encourages people’s participation:

A group usually provides a platform for people to present their ideas. Group dynamics is more likely to draw out participation from people who may otherwise be hesitant to talk or interact. It encourages people to take an initiative as they feel part of the decision-making process.

Usually there is no individual onus (burden) in the event of failure, which makes it easier for people to come up with suggestions and solutions to problems.

Disadvantages:

1. Time-consuming:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

A group involves several individuals. Getting them organised, planning and coordinating their meetings, defining and explaining to them the purpose of a meeting and the goals, and finally reaching a solution or arriving at a decision can be quite cumbersome. Making decisions in a group can, thus, be time-consuming. The time loss involved in group dynamics cannot be ignored.

2. Lack of onus:

It is difficult to fix responsibility in a group. In an organisation, it is often essential to fix responsibility before a problem can be solved. It is difficult to do so if anything goes wrong with a decision made by a group.

3. Individual domination:

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Quite often, discussions in a group are dominated by a few members. Although a group discussion means a collective discussion, some people usually manage to usurp (draw to them) a position of informal leadership owing to their personality or style of participation.

This position can also be because of the position held within the organisation or simply because of self-confidence generated by previous experiences. Sometimes only a few individuals dominate and the others fade away in a group, thereby defeating the very purpose of group discussion.

4. Compromise decisions:

The need to arrive at a group decision sometimes results in a compromise. The solution offered is not essentially the best. It is, instead, a compromise acceptable as a mid-point to all concerned. There are different demands and social pressures, and members may agree to a proposal without really evaluating it. Such support may not be wholehearted.

ADVERTISEMENTS:

5. Expensive:

Group decision-making is quite expensive in terms of time, money, energy and man-hours. There is also a theory which says that the larger a group gets, the less is the individual contribution from each member.

6. Groupism:

The very word has negative connotations. Some members of a group may start harbouring a feeling that they are different from the others. This actually leads to informal groups within the larger formal group, which may generate negative sentiments towards other groups or people outside the group.

What are the disadvantages of group decisions?

What are some problems with group decision making?

What are the disadvantages of group decision making quizlet?

What are the disadvantages of decision making?