Leadership: Consensus Decision Making - Pros, Cons, and Optimality

This assignment explores the concept of consensus decision-making in a leadership context. It begins by outlining the advantages, such as incorporating diverse perspectives and fostering team unity, and disadvantages, including potential time consumption and the risk of suboptimal decisions in large groups or when expert opinions are crucial. The assignment then provides practical examples, suggesting consensus is ideal for organizational changes like technology or resource acquisition, while executive decisions, such as business expansion, may not benefit from it. The author concludes with an opinion on the optimality of consensus decision-making, likely advocating for a balanced approach based on the specific situation and decision type. The assignment uses references to support the analysis.

Running head: IS CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING OPTIMAL
IS CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING OPTIMAL
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors note

1
IS CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING OPTIMAL
Benefits
Consensus decision involves all the group members to have their say for any decision
required for the organization. The significant benefits of the consensus decision making are:
1. It incorporates needs, perspective and thoughts of the team members into the process.
2. All the team members are satisfied before reaching a consensus.
3. Unity and harmony among the teams are achieved by offering them a feeling of
belongingness.
4. The centricity of power is disseminated, and the central accumulation of power is
avoided, allowing more satisfaction and motivation.
5. A consensus-based decision makes the team member fully prepared, ready and willing
for the taski.
Disadvantages
Where there lie benefits for the consensus decision making, there are also some related
disadvantages for the process. Some of them are mentioned below:
1. The process can consume a long time before reaching a decision. It is never easy to get
everyone satisfied, so it may take a long time for convincing everyone. Consultation and
popular styles can be a better option instead.
2. The stakeholders with low interest or contrary interests can spoil the whole process.
3. Defaulting to consensus for every decision in case of large teams can prove a
cumbersome job. In the case of large groups, the process will be counter-productive.

2
IS CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING OPTIMAL
4. The group members may start consenting to the majority, and this may miss the actual
inputs required out of them. The process will not remain ideal in this situation due to loss
of information from all ends.
5. The trust in the leadership is lessened through this process. Especially in case of tough
times or a conflict, passive leaders have proved to be ineffective due to loss of trust in
them by the subordinatesii.
A practical example of a management situation where consensus would be ideal
In any organization, consensus decision making will be helpful when the organization is
going for any change in the processor resources. Acquisition of new technology, a new machine
or new setup should be made with prior consensus by all stakeholders. As under these
conditions, if the decision is taken without consensus, then there lie chances for a future conflict
of interest between the stakeholders. Bringing everyone on board before making a shift in
technology, resource or skill is hence, necessary for effective decision making. Moreover,
consensus decision making has remained successful in case of provision of justice in a system
just as the legal system practised in any state. It can be helpful insufficient conflict resolution for
the rule of truth in a policyiii.
A situation where consensus would NOT provide an optimal solution
Consensus decision making is not applicable in all circumstances, and it will prove counter-
productive in case of executive decisions. It will not be helpful in situations where expert
opinions are required. Like for expanding business with new customers should be based on the
decisions made by the executives. Inputs from the whole team will not be necessary for this
situation. The consensus decision making will be only wastage of time as the expert's opinions

3
IS CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING OPTIMAL
will be required for the decision. The best model for business management lies in a mix of both
executive and consensus-based decision making, according to the situationsiv.

4
IS CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING OPTIMAL
References
webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:eQ8nv1eE20sJ:https://
www.thebalancecareers.com/consensus-decision-making-pros-and-cons-
4178335+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in, "Want to Know the Pros and Cons of Consensus
Decision Making?.". in The Balance Careers, , 2020,
<https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:eQ8nv1eE20sJ:https://
www.thebalancecareers.com/consensus-decision-making-pros-and-cons-
4178335+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in> [accessed 19 April 2020].
www.seedsforchange.org.uk/consensus, "Consensus Decision Making - Seeds for Change.".
in Seeds for Change, , 2020, <https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/consensus> [accessed 19 April
2020].
www.bradenton.com/news/business/article133084109.html. in , , 2020,
<https://www.bradenton.com/news/business/article133084109.html> [accessed 19 April 2020].
M Technology, "When Consensus Hurts the Company", in MIT Sloan Management
Review, , 2020, <https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/when-consensus-hurts-the-company/>
[accessed 19 April 2020].

5
IS CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING OPTIMAL

iwebcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:eQ8nv1eE20sJ:https://www.thebalancecareers.com/consensus-
decision-making-pros-and-cons-4178335+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in, "Want to Know the Pros and Cons of Consensus
Decision Making?", in The Balance Careers, , 2020,
ii<https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:eQ8nv1eE20sJ:https://www.thebalancecareers.com/consensus-
decision-making-pros-and-cons-4178335+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=in> [accessed 19 April 2020].
iiiwww.bradenton.com/news/business/article133084109.html, in , , 2020,
<https://www.bradenton.com/news/business/article133084109.html> [accessed 19 April 2020].
www.seedsforchange.org.uk/consensus, "Consensus Decision Making - Seeds for Change", in Seeds for Change, , 2020,
<https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/consensus> [accessed 19 April 2020].
iv M Technology, "When Consensus Hurts the Company", in MIT Sloan Management Review, , 2020,
<https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/when-consensus-hurts-the-company/> [accessed 19 April 2020].