THE TEN MOST WIDELY USED AIDS TO DECISION MAKING
- STRAW VOTING: Participants are asked to vote to
give a general impression of reactions-not
to make a decision. If there are several alternatives I usually give
participants 3 votes each to get a broader
picture of reactions.
- NEGATIVE VOTING: Participants are asked to
identify to alternative they favor the least
or could not accept.
- RANKING ALTERNATIVES: Participants are asked to
rank order the alternatives from the
most favorable to the least favorable. One is most favorable and the total
of the number of alternatives is the least
favorable. The totals or average ranks are presented to the group for further work.
- WEIGHTING ALTERNATIVES: Similar to rank ordering
but participants are given five or
ten weights to assign to the various alternatives. The weights can be
assigned in any way from all on one item to
equal distribution.
- PRO-CON TECHNIQUE: Participants make up two lists
on a flip chart, one showing all the favorable factors and one showing all
the unfavorable factors of a specific
issue or plan. This clarifies all the reasons the proposal may or may not
work and brings to the surface the fears
restraining a decision.
- CRITERIA MATRIX: Criteria for evaluating the
proposals are listed before the proposals
are generated. After the proposals are summarized and reduced to a working number they are assessed or scored
according to the predetermined criteria and the results compared.
- GOING AROUND THE GROUP: The facilitator goes
around the group asking everyone in
turn what they think about a specific issues. A
polarized discussion that gets bogged
down may be freed up by hearing from the silent majority.
- ACTTVE LISTENING DISCUSSION: Members are asked to
summarize the last speakers point of view-and check with that person that
they have understood it-before they
can express their own opinion. When sensitive issues become polarized,
listening often ceases as participants spend the time while others are
talking preparing for their next
comment.
- TRIALS WITH EXPERIENCE REPORTS: When 2-4
alternatives seem equally useful they
are tried out on an experimental basis for a specific period of time and
then reported on to give the group
more data on the possibilities. And it may turn out that there is more than one successful way of
handling the situation.
- CONFIDENTIAL LISTING OF OPINIONS: Opinions or
votes on critical issues are collected
and present anonymously and this often diffuses much of the emotion
and confrontation of a verbal discussion.
The Delphi Technique and Nominal Group Technique use this strategy by
asking members to give opinions in writing and then summarizing the responses for further work.
...
Appendix
D—The Ten Best Ways to Improve Meeting Effectiveness