Informal Decision Making

Groups are making decisions all the time. Often groups don’t even realize when they have made a decision. And once made, decisions are hard to undo. When someone says, “We’ll we decided that already, didn’t we,” those who don’t remember deciding are often left without much recourse. Looking at how decisions get made without the groups consent is one way to keep this from happening in the future.

Some informal ways groups make decisions (adapted from What to Observe in a Group, by Edgar Schein).

The Plop: “I think we should introduce ourselves”…silence. (The group has decided by omission)

The Self-Authorized Agenda: “I think we should introduce ourselves. My name is Joe…” (A decision by one).

The Handclasp: “I wonder if it would be helpful if we introduced ourselves.” “I think it would be, I’m Joe…” (A decision by two).

“Does anyone object?” or “Is everyone okay with this?” (Decision by a minority – one or more).

Voting: “I think we should introduce ourselves.” The group votes

Polling: “I think we should introduce ourselves. Let’s see where we all stand on this idea?”

Consensus Testing: Exploration to test for opposition and to determine whether opposition feels strongly enough to be unwilling to implement decision; not necessarily unanimity but essential agreement by all.

What is difficult about informal decision making is that democratic processes (like voting or polling) can be agreed upon in undemocratic ways such as by self-authorized agenda or handclasp. So the decision a group makes about how it will make decisions is essential to the work of the group.

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