Meeting Management

Introduction

Most people are not trained for group participation and decision making, yet day after day we sit in meetings to air a few sides of complex issues and then vote on implementation—and may the most vocal contingent win! Many automatically consider group decisions as poor ones, or at least worse than decisions made by individuals. When decisions are processed without being well considered, the results are likely to be poor. Wait a minute! Wasn't the last chapter about issues being well considered? Yes, discussion starts with problem solving—and continues in decision making. This section shows some specifics of decision making and polishes the discussion skills developed thus far by emphasizing questioning techniques and developing criteria ...