Communication and Team Decision Making

Communication and Team Decision Making

Lesson 4 Discussion Forum 350 Words with 3 references

Communication and Team Decision Making

Part 1: Sharpening the Team Mind: Communication and Collective Intelligence

A. What are some of the possible biases and points of error that may arise in team communication systems? In addition to those cited in the opening of Chapter 6, what are some other examples of how team communication problems can lead to disaster?

B. Revisit communication failure examples in Exhibit 6-1. Identify the possible causes of communication or decision-making failure in each example, and, drawing on the information presented in the chapter, discuss measures that might have prevented problems from arising within each team’s communication system.

Part 2: Team Decision-Making: Pitfalls and Solutions

A. What are the key symptoms of groupthink? What problems and shortcomings can arise in the decision-making process as a result of groupthink?

B. Do you think that individuals or groups are better decision-makers? Justify your choice. In what situations would individuals be more effective decision-makers than groups, and in what situations would groups be better than individuals?

Response1(150 words): Classmate post

Part 1:

A. Communication is critical for any organization and they use different types of communication methods and style in the workplace, but it is also essential to know the communication problems in order to resolve the issues that are barrier to good internal and external communications. Below are the communication biases and errors that arise in communication systems.

Ego and attitude: The ego and attitude in workplace will discourage the teamwork. For example, one member will take over discussions and try to prevent other members from sharing their points and ideas. This type of ego and attitudes in the team will lead to misunderstandings and reduces collaboration.

Cultural differences: Cultural differences arises when the organization deals with international clients as the culture differs from one country to other, even if there is diversity in workplace most of the people tend to be more persuaded by people from their same culture by this managers and team members will face the challenges of communicating with everyone.

Poorly written communication: Employees use different communication tools such as newsletter, memos, emails, etc. if the messages are not written properly it can cause confusion and conflicts among team members so, it is best to proofread the written copy before sharing it with others (Vdovin, 2020).

The team communication problems that can lead to disaster:

Most of the communication problems start from complex mix of technological and human factors because maintaining sufficient communication tools can be difficult as the technology keeps on changing and this can create communication problems, this includes system failure, system overload and incompatibility between communication systems, saturation of the mobile phone network etc. (Lea, 2019).

B. The communication problem can be solved by following points and this also helps the organization to communicate more effectively.

· Developing best communication plan and focus on culture of communication such as giving respect to other and being transparent while communicating.

· Using right communication tools such as email, Skype calls, phone calls etc.

· Team members have to be aware of communication weak points.

· Conducting regular meetings to have clear agenda and deliverables.

· Practicing deliberate communication such as different communication style, clarity in the message and necessary of the message (Egeland, 2017).

Part 2:

A. The symptoms of group think will show the need for team improvement, such symptoms of group think are collective rationalization, direct pressure from team leaders and managers to make better decisions, other group members opposing the group ideas, sometimes group members are very optimistic and will take potentially dangerous risks (Blackman, 2018).

In the process of group think sometimes the bad decision can be made as in the team there may be disagreeing members also, even if the members will have creative and innovative ideas they won’t discuss in the team as they think that disagreeing members can create the conflict and this leads to lack of creativity and collaborative, resistance to new ideas and believing only the facts that support the existing opinions only (Blackman, 2018).

B. Groups are better decision makers because every member in group will have different ideas and views with diverse strengths and expert members as they can come up with unique methods of alternatives with best quality of solution.

When there is less time with lot of responsibilities individual decision making will be best and when group decision are made the hidden talent of employees will come out and they will give different ideas and approaches in better decision making.

References

Vdovin, A. (2020) Retrieved from, https://www.alert-software.com/blog/top-communication-problems-in-the-workplace

Lea, M. (2019) Retrieved from, https://martinlea.com/communication-problems-in-disaster-situations/

Egeland, B. (2017) Retrieved from, https://www.workamajig.com/blog/avoid-communication-breakdown

Blackman, A. (2018) Retrieved from, https://business.tutsplus.com/tutorials/what-is-groupthink-cms-32124

Response2(150 words): Classmate post

A few possible biases and points of error in the team communication systems arise mostly from generational indifferences and by the team expectations with that of the individual expectations. A lot of time cultural diversity within the team and their different work styles might become the cause for potential errors or conflicts in the team communication systems. (O’Daniel & Rosenstein, 2007). Gender might also be one of them and with diversity in the educational background comes the variations in dealing with the issues within the team. Emphasizing the team to make speedy decisions could create chaos within the team and its communication systems and when cannot be resolved can be lead to disaster. Every individual in the team has their own skillset and has to be identified and communicated with their tasks accordingly and any failure in doing so will lead to a disaster in the team.

Once all the potential solutions for the problem are being gathered there is a need to evaluate them, but prior to it, it is also important to clarify and examine these solutions clarify rather than evaluating them at the earliest. A healthy evaluation must be practiced like giving active criticism which could be communicated at ease and it is very much necessary to brainstorm the ideas. Having multiple solutions is the best advantage of groupthink and has to be utilized to generate greater solutions. The better solution for the problem would be to use reporting it online or to deal it with in-person and also using email mechanisms. However, in the latter part, it would be effective to appoint an ethics commission to deal with it.

The symptoms of groupthink are higher group cohesion, the pressure to make better decisions, evaluation of similar decisions multiple times resulting in the consumption of greater amounts of time and resources. The peer pressure is usually high in terms of groupthink and also the grounds for making moral decisions are high.

The problems and shortcomings that can arise in the decision-making process as a result of groupthink are mostly being overdependent. People tend to rely on one another for decision making and a favorable and suitable outcome might not arise. (DeMeuse, K.P. , & Liebowitz, S.J., 1981). At times only the abandoned solution that is not an add-value option might be considered which would cause great loss. As one starts to give out their opinion, the others might be inclined to think like them and thus will halt the creative solution thinking and decision-making process.

I think that both the individual decision making and the group decision-makers have their own significance based on the situation. At times when the whole company is evaluating the needs for financial investments, an individual decision-maker will not have much significance. Naturally, a group of board members gets to decide regarding the investments as it can have a drastic effect on the company’s future and only a group decision-makers will ensure that a decision is being thoroughly evaluated and the best decision is considered that would aid in the betterment of the firm. At times there is not much work and menial tasks have to be done it is a waste fo time to involve group decision-makers as any individual can choose it rightly.

References

O’Daniel, M. (2007, April). Professional Communication and Team Collaboration – Patient Safety and Quality – NCBI Bookshelf. Retrieved July 15, 2020, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2637/

DeMeuse, K.P. , & Liebowitz, S.J. (1981). An empirical analysis of team-building research. Group and Organization Studies, 6, 357-378.

Response3 (150 words): Classmate post

Part 1:

A. There are some common possible biases and points of error that arises in communication system, lack of trust is one of the main issue that creates lack of communication. When the team members will not trust each other automatically they reveal themselves by showing different behaviors such as avoiding spending time together with other members in the team this can happen when there is generation difference and cultural differences in workplace, not asking each other for assistance, being late to meetings, lack of employee morale, and assuming negative intentions (Clarizen, 2017).

Treating the team members unfairly will also create the communication issues that can lead to a failure to give best performance and the members will not be able to address the challenges assigned by the managers and leaders before it leads to the disasters and such common signs are teams missing deadlines due to lack of communication, gossiping or complaining about others in the team, lack of encouragement from managers and leaders will lead to poor performance. To avoid this it is must to behave professionally and communicate their problems openly with others at any time (Clarizen, 2017).

B. Consequences of failing to communicate properly can cause great damage to the productivity in team so having clarity in thoughts will help to be clear towards the goals and objectives in team and not being transparency in workplace, fear to speak with others and share their ideas, confusion, and misaligned expectations will cause failure in communication or decision making (Tuck, 2014).

To prevent the problems it is must to pay attention while communicating with employees with active listening, having trust, conducting regular meetings, giving feedbacks, equally sharing vision and values of organization and using best communication tools is very important as this will avoid conflicts within team (Tuck, 2014).

Part 2:

A. The symptoms of groupthink will help the group members to think about how group think applies in their workplace. Over estimation of the group this includes illusion of invulnerability and belief in groups inherent morality. Closed mindedness will have collective rationalization and stereotypes of out groups. Pressure toward uniformity will include self censorship, illusion unanimity, direct pressure on dissenters and self appointed mind guards (Jamieson, 2016).

There are numbers of problems that are recognized in the decision making process as a result of group think and that includes inefficiently considering all the alternatives to maintain the unanimity, failure to evaluate the risk properly from the solution selected, lack of formal procedures and social diversity, high group cohesion and poor communication of the information. This also includes stress from external threats, time pressure and moral dilemmas (Decision Innovation, 2020).

B. Groups are the better decision makers than individuals because group can collect all the information in short period of time and they can analyze it clearly to bring best solution by sharing the work equally there will not be much pressure on them so that they come up new ideas using their talent and skills to give best decisions. Individuals are effective decision makers when there is less time and they use their own views and ideas.Group are effective decision makers when they are handling the huge projects and when they have to complete work best quality.

References:

Clarizen, T. (2017) Referred from, https://www.clarizen.com/spot-communication-issues-team/

Tuck, P. (2014) Referred from, https://www.trainingjournal.com/articles/feature/failure-communicate

Jamieson, H. (2016) Referred from, https://www.jaluch.co.uk/group-think/

Decision Innovation. (2020) Referred from, https://www.decision-making-solutions.com/group-decision-making-groupthink.html