Harvard Business Essentials, Decision Making

the discussion. If there is an obvious control position, such as at the

head of a conference table, the atmosphere will be much the oppo-

site; people will tend to defer to the person who occupies that place.

Agree on How the Decision Will Be Made

Once you’ve selected the participants and chosen a setting for your

meetings, the next step is to determine the decision-making ap-

proach you will take. The group you assemble needs to understand

up front the process that will be followed and the way the final deci-

sion will be made—and by whom.

The spectrum of group decision-making approaches includes

the following:

•

Consensus. All participants meet and discuss ...