GETTING ORGANIZED FOR TAKING CONCRETE DECISIONS
GETTING ORGANIZED FOR TAKING CONCRETE DECISIONS
By Arshad Husain
Introduction
One fairly obvious feature of organizational life is that decisions get made all the time.
Such processes have to take into account two separate to but linked needs:
Deciding to Decide
In many cases, problems are endured rather than solved.
The Processes
Organizational processes which will meet the needs for high quality decision making and for ensuring that decisions really do get taken, must have a number of components.
The Key Role of Information
Perfect knowledge and, therefore, perfect information, has previously been identified as a necessary operating condition for rational decision making.
In addition information plays two other roles in the organizational context:
(1) Managers need to gather and to collate information in order to decide whether or not a problem exists.
(2) Information is needed after the implementation of the chosen solution in order to determine its effectiveness.
Task uncertainty The greater the degree or poverty and uncertainty in the task of problem, to be faced, the greater the amount of information that has to be processed and shared amongst those involved in the decision making.
The number of elements involved, The decision situation is complicated by the size of the organization, the range of different activities involved in decision making, and the number of tasks or products undertaken at any one time. Each of these factors is likely to require an increase in the number and intensity of information flows.
The interdependence of decisions In situations where there are likely to be knock-on effects when educations are made, then there is a need for extensive communication of information between departments, project teams, and decision makers.
Establishing Sources of Information
Gathering information in order to make a decision, one the problem has been identified, is almost of necessarily a unique process.
Information Need in Stable Conditions
Managers who operate in relatively stable product / market environments find most of their information needs concentrated in (2) and (3).
Information Needs in Conditions of Uncertainty
The more decision makers are faced with variety and variability in the problems they face, the more they require to invest in gathering information in input conditions.
Establishing the Decision Point
Just as different organizational circumstances generate different information needs, then it is possible to envisage variations in the point at which the actual decision gets made.
Routine Nature of Task
The more routine the task or the problems faced, the more it is possible to centralise certain aspects of the decision making process. Pre-planning at the center can cope with most, if not all, contingencies.
Interdependence of Task
The effect of interdependent tasks on the complexity of the information process required for adequate decision making has already been raised.
The Development of Decision Making Power into Problem Solving Units
Many, if not most, organizations now operate under conditions which produce both greater variety of problems and decision situations and much more uncertainty.
This strategy has the following advantages:
(1) It reduces the volume of information flowing vertically through the organization, reducing the risks of distortion and overload.
(2) It shortens both the distance and the time between information being received and decision being taken, allowing a quick response.
(3) Involvement in decision making is a highly motivating factor for employees, encouraging awareness, creativity and idea generation, and a commitment towards getting solutions implemented.
(4) The more employees are directly involved in solving problems as opposed merely to experiencing them, the more problem solving will become part of the organisational culture.
CHOICE OF MANAGEMENT STYLE
The section on Management Style in chapter 4 suggested that in terms of making the most effective decision, managers could identify a style which was regarded as being effective in solving a particular problem.
There range of styles has five basic strategies as follows:
Style (a) The manager makes the decision personally, using the information which is immediately available.
Style (b) The manager obtains required information from subordinates and then makes the decision. Involvement by others is limited strictly to the provision of information.
Style (c) The manager discuses the problem with subordinates on an individual basis, while still retaining the decision making role.
Style (d) The manager discusses the problem collectively with subordinates, encouraging collective thoughts and ideas, while still retaining the decision making role.
Style (e) The problem is discussed and tacked collectively. The manager and subordinates attempt to reach to consensus on a solution which is then adapted.
The "Quality" Dimension
To what extent does it, in fact, matter which of the alternative solutions is chosen? In some decisions, any one of a number of solutions would be acceptable and, other things being equal, any of the five styles might be used.
The "Information" Dimension
Who has the information necessary to make a high quality decision? Does the manager know enough about the problem to solve it alone?
The "Commitment" Dimension
Many decisions depend on the actions and interpretations of others for successful implementation.
The "Capability" Dimension
It is only sensible to use group consensus methods if the group is capable of producing a high quality decision.
Using the Dimensions
By considering each of these dimensions in turn managers can derive a rationale for their choice of management style.
Other Deciding Factors
Where a range of acceptable styles exist factors other than those in the "dimensions" need to be included.
The Need to be Flexible
The situational approach to analyzing decisions highlights the inherent weakness in the rigid adoption of one particular decision style. There is no single decision style that is appropriate for all types of decision.
It would seem therefore that rather than let long term issues of style override the needs of a particular decision, the more effective approach is to:
(1) Determine the type of decision being faced by considering the four dimensions of "Quality", Information", "Commitment" and "Capability".
(2) Isolate the range of acceptable styles by excluding those which are unacceptable in the circumstances.
(3) If there is more than one acceptable style, choose the one which fits in with long term aims or alternatively choose the style which is likely to get the decision made most quickly.
Problems in the Situational Approach
An approach which bases decision style on the demands of the situation poses a number of problems.
Many factors can combine to produce such rigidity, including:
- Past experience of success and failures.
- Comfort and familiarity with a particular style
- Encouragement in using a particular style by senior management, or by
- The prevailing organizational climate
- Current, trends, for example, towards participation and democracy in decision
making
- A being of that getting help from other is "weak management"
- A lack of skill in diagnosing different problems
- A lack of skill in operating a wide range of different styles
THE EFFECTIVE DECISION GROUP
The personal skill of the manager is of considerable importance in organizational decision making, but it is a necessary rather than a sufficient condition for effective decision making.
"Content" needs Essentially concerned with "what" it is that the group or team are doing.
"Process" needs Essentially concerned with "how" the team actually operates. Group members need skills in working together and in "living" together as a group.
Task Process Activities
(1) Initiating putting new ideas forward or starting up new activities.
(2) Asking getting information or views, actively searching out facts and ideas.
(3) Clarifying helping in understanding, re-starting defining terms, asking for explanation.
(4) Summarizing bringing ideas together.
(5) Testing for agreement checking if the group is ready to make a decision.
Maintenance Process Activities
(1) Harmonizing bringing others together, exploring and recording disagreements.
(2) Gate keeping bringing others into the discussion, allowing everyone to participate.
(3) Encouraging agreeing, responding positively to others, building and supporting.
(4) Listening showing that ideas are heard, showing understanding.
(5) Standard setting stating feelings and beliefs, brining things out into open discussion.
The Flexible Role Structure
The particular balance between the need for content understanding and expertise, and that for task and maintenance process skills, is likely of course, to vary from one situation to another.
Organizing for an Effective Team
In the same way that managers cannot be expected to be effective leaders without the necessary skills and experience, work team members cannot be expected to work together effectively without processing an adequate level of skills and understanding of what in required.
Development of Content Capability
As we have said, individuals are usually recruited into work teams on the basis of their content experience.
Task Process Skills
Skills in this area are gained both through training and through experience. The manager can help group members to gain skills by using regular group tasks as learning vehicles.
In order to increase task process skill then, the manager can:
(1) ensure that team members are trained in problem solving strategies
(2) ensure that the team look regularly at its own performance and effectiveness in problem solving and task completion.
Maintenance Process Skills
There is no doubt that, however strong in content capability and task process skills a group's performance can be severely affected by a poor maintenance process.
Such group training situations are designed to help individuals to (1) explore and understand more about their own values, motivation and behavior; (2) observe and investigate the way their own behavior impacts on others; and (3) learn about the interpersonal processes that help and hinder the way groups operate and make decisions.
Dessler suggests the following guidelines to be used in conducting T-group training:
- T-group should only be used where an open, flexible style is appropriate for organizational needs.
- Attendance on a T-group should be voluntary.
- Participants should be carefully screened before going on T-group.
- The trainee should be an experienced professional.
- Mechanisms must be built in or transferring learning back into the work organisation.
- Trainees should know beforehand what kind of experience they are getting into.
The Characteristic of an Effective Team
The next stage, after organizing and preparing the ground for effective teamwork, is to check out how successful these efforts have been.
Recruiting for the Decision Making Group
For most managers, the main strategy for improving team effectiveness is, as described previously, one of training and development of existing team members.
Personality Characteristics as Key Variables
Over a period of seven years, Belbin and his colleagues were able to observe and investigate the performance of a considerable number of teams undertaking the same competitive task.
The four traits which appeared to be most significant were:
- Intelligence, - Dominance, - Extroversion/Introversion, - Stability / Anxiety
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