Group decision-making methods

 

Summery

Decision-making strategy, in general, needs seven steps: "Investigate the situation in detail, Create a constructive environment, Generate good alternatives, Explore your options, Select the best solution, Evaluate your plan, Communicate your decision, and take action." (Mind Tools, 2022) But, the decision-making techniques are "(1) Brainstorming, (2) The Delphi Method, (3) Weighted Scoring, (4) Nominal Group Technique, (5) Possibility Ranking, (6 The Stepladder Technique, (7) Pros and Cons list, (8) Didactic Interaction." (Dagher, 2022)

The Delphi Method

RAND Corporation developed the Delphi technique primarily to use an iterative multistage consensus process of groups, which hold the individuals' opinions. The Delphi method is a "forecasting process framework based on the results of multiple rounds of questionnaires sent to a panel of experts. After each round of questionnaires, the experts are presented with an aggregated summary of the last round, allowing each expert to adjust their answers according to the group response." (Investopedia, 2021, para. 1) 

Therefore the Delphi method is a process that starts with gathering a group's opinion or decision by surveying a panel of experts. And then, during the surveying, the group's experts reveal their ideas, and finally, the result will be the "true consensus" of the whole group's opinions.

The Weighted Scoring Method

Another method of my focus in this article is the Weighted Scoring method. The Weighted Scoring method of decision making is about getting the ideas of a variety of views of different potential solutions of team. So, still, we are involving teams and groups and opinions of the groups in this method, as the Delphi techniques suggested. Dealing with the Weighted Scoring method in decision making is "you and your team must evaluate each item on your list and assign criteria like Business Value, Costs, and Risks. Each of these criteria must likewise be assigned a score based on the weighting of the item. "(Airfocus, 2022, p. 2). Therefore, we can decide on the Weighted Scoring technique as soon as we "Once you've carried out weighted scoring for each item on your team's list"  (Airfocus, 2022, p. 2) 

Here is a simple Weighted Scoring method of information gathering:

Comparing the Delphi and the Weighted Scoring methods

The main difference between these two methods is the "vastly differing approaches are used to define final consensus, including the use of different aggregation methods and different rating scales." (Lange, 2020)

Reference

Airfocus. (2022). The Ultimate Guide to Group Decision Making - Techniques, Tools and Strategies. Retrieved 2022, from https://airfocus.com/blog/guide-to-group-decision-making-techniques-tools/

Dagher, K. (2022, March 8). 10 of the Most Effective Group Decision Making Techniques. Fellow.App. Retrieved 2022, from https://fellow.app/blog/productivity/group-decision-making-techniques/

Lange, T. (2020, February 10). Comparison of different rating scales for the use in Delphi studies: different scales lead to different consensus and show different test-retest reliability - BMC Medical Research Methodology. BioMed Central. Retrieved 2022, from https://bmcmedresmethodol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12874-020-0912-8

Mind Tools. (2022). How to Make Decisions: A Model for Making the Best Possible Choices. Retrieved 2022, from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_00.htm

Investopedia. (2021, September 4). What Is the Delphi Method?. Retrieved 2022, from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/delphi-method.asp