EMPOWERMENT AND THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS
In recent years, groups have become increasingly important in the American workplace as companies move toward fewer managers, more empowered workers and away from hierarchical organizational structures. Many who support downsizing efforts hold that empowering workers and encouraging participative decision making is good for the individual employee as well as for the organization. With the emergence of groups, many of which form and are re-formed over the course of years within an organization, the way in which individuals interact within those groups has become important to managers and workers alike. Of particular importance is the way that groups arrive at decisions. This research explores the various phases of the decision making process and how participative decision making by empowered employees brings about the many benefits that its proponents suggest.
Participative decision making by empowered employees carries significant benefit to organizations, including better decisions and decreased resistance to implementing those decisions.
Although this step can be dismissed as "obvious," it is perhaps the most important step in the decision making process. If an organization does not recognize that there is a decision to made or a problem to be solved, the situation cannot be resolved. In traditional organizations with hierarchical structures, the responsibility for recognizing the need for a decision rests with the manager. Brainstorming and cause-and-effect diagrams can be used to help isolate problems. These are participative techniques which encourage participation by group members and heighten the creative process that is critical to successful problem solving. Through these methods, individuals involved in the problem solving process can determine what the underlying cause of the problem is rather than just approach the problem from the symptom standpoint. These techni...