General

Many decisions are made by groups of people. The central idea that motivates organizations and other groups of people to prefer group decisions is that "two heads are better than one." Indeed, to a great degree the strength of a group is greater than that of an individual; nevertheless, many obstacles stand in the way of a group called upon to make a decision and prevent the group from maximizing its relative advantage in the process. Understanding the environment of group decision making, as well as the forces operating in the background and producing different processes in the individual who is part of the group, are the key to improving group decision making processes.

The objective of the workshop is to expose the limits of group decision making and the conditions and methods for improving these processes. The workshop includes lectures about the psychology of decision making, exercises and simulations. A preliminary organizational analysis for the purpose of customizing the workshop to the needs of the organization ordering the workshop is available.

Workshop topics:

The psychological environment of group decision making

Issues and problems in group decision making - factors and solutions

Discussion of examples of real-life group decision making processes

Group decision making simulation - brainstorming, situation analysis, group polarization, groupthink

Target audience:

Managers

Project engineers and development teams

Army officers and security personnel