Analyzing Difficulties in Group Work Decision-Making Process

This report delves into the common problem of difficulty in decision-making within group work settings. It identifies that varied perspectives, non-acceptance among team members, and team size are primary causes of decision-making challenges. The report assesses the effects of these issues, including lack of goal accomplishment, conflicts within teams, and a lack of competitive advantage. An example of unclear goals and poor communication is provided to illustrate the problem. The document also references academic sources to support its findings, making it a valuable resource for understanding and addressing group work challenges. The report emphasizes the importance of effective communication and clear objectives in facilitating better decision-making processes within groups.

Difficulty Making Decision

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Common Group Work Problem: Difficulty in decision making ....................................................3
The problem in group work.........................................................................................................3
Common effects of the problem assessed ...................................................................................3
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

Common Group Work Problem: Difficulty in decision making
In group work, difficulty in decision making is recognized as the most common problem.
Moreover, in group, individuals differ on the basis of their skills, behaviour, attitude etc. Further,
at the time of decision making all the group members come with specific or different solutions
(Common issues teams face at the workplace, 2018). Thus, varied perspectives of concerned
members create difficulties in group decision making.
The problem in group work
There are several reasons due to which group face difficulty in decision making such as:
 Different perspectives: From assessment, it has identified that in group each individual
has own perspective. In other words, individuals in group vary on the basis of their
opinions and behavior. Hence, due to varied perspectives group face issues in relation to
arriving at one decision or judgment(Agazarian, 2018)
 Non-Acceptance by team worker: It is also recognized as one of the main aspects which
create difficulty in the decision making aspect of group (Robbin, 20-10). If any of the
team member does not agree with the task or work, it may create problem for coming up
on a common decision of team.
 Limited or over larger team work: Properly size of the group of people in team. Having
few people in group can limit the number of ideas and opinions. Where overlarge team
members in a group will give rise to conflicts and misunderstanding. It would then be
difficult for team member to take any decision. In addition to this, in a group, some
people hesitate to share their innovative ideas (Erford, 2018). In this way, relevant and
good ideas are overlooked usually. Further, large size or inclusion of more people also
places negative impact on the decision making aspect of group when decision needs to be
taken within a specific time frame.
Common effects of the problem assessed
Issue pertaining to difficulty in decision making has direct impact on group work in the
following manner:
 Lack of goals accomplishment: when group are facing problems in taking decision, it
will leads to fail to fail in accomplishment of goals. Hence, the goal of team cannot be
achieved within the time frame as the group is facing problem of decision making as
there is lack of information (Guth and Asner-Self, 2017). Further, when group members

do not provide effectual and innovative solutions then it closely impacts aspects in
relation to the goal accomplishment.
 Conflicts in team: Poor decision making will leads to misunderstanding and conflicts
among group members in team. Ineffective decision making creates confusion in the
mind of team members and thereby conflicting situation arises (Macgowan and Wong,
2017). In this way, ineffective decision making highly impacts overall productivity as
well as group performance.
 Lack of competitive advantage: Due to ineffective decision making aspect group faces
problem in the accomplishment of specific task. Thus, ineffectual decision making
closely influences aspects related to competitive advantage.
Example of this situation:
An example of the group work problem is, unclear goals. If a group of students has to
work in a team for a presentation, they first have to be aware about the objectives of their work.
It will help the students in understanding their goals and ease the decision process. A group of 10
students are facing problem in making a decision for because of lack of communication. The
team member can connect through emails, phone calls, texts that can helps in enhancing the
coordination and effective communication between them (4 Decision-Making and Problem
Solving Examples in the Workplace ,2018). But the lack of communication between the team
members are creating problem in taking decision.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Erford, B. T. ed., 2018. Group work: Processes and applications. Routledge.
Guth, L. J. and Asner-Self, K. K., 2017. International group work research: Guidelines in
cultural contexts. The Journal for Specialists in Group Work. 42(1). pp.33-53.
Macgowan, M. J. and Wong, S. E., 2017. Improving student confidence in using group work
standards: A controlled replication. Research on Social Work Practice. 27(4). pp.434-440.
Agazarian, Y. M., 2018. The visible and invisible group. Routledge.
Online
Common issues teams face at the workplace. 2018. [Online] Available through:
<http://www.forbesindia.com/blog/business-strategy/common-issues-teams-face-at-the-
workplace/>
Robbins, 20.10 How to solve group problem [online] Available
Through:<https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/relationships/professional/how-to-solve-group-
problems>
4 Decision-Making and Problem Solving Examples in the Workplace .2018 [online] Available
Through:<https://www.bigthinkedge.com/blog/4-decision-making-and-problem-solving-
examples-in-the-workplace>