Swiss Made Agile™
  1. Skills
    2.  > 
  2. Stakeholder Engagement
    3.  > 
  3. Decision-Making Techniques

Decision-Making Techniques

What is Decision-Making Techniques

Group or participatory decision making requires stakeholder involvement, as communication and decision making are critical to keeping everyone informed and involved. There are two high-level decision making styles – Authoritarian and Participatory.

Top related courses to Decision-Making Techniques

Related methods and techniques to Decision-Making Techniques

  • Group Decision-Making Styles

    1. Group Decision-Making Styles

    Decision-Making styles in a group are as follows:

    • Authoritarian: The leader makes self-centered decisions and does not consult participants or ask questions. Such decisions follow the command and control style of project execution.
    • Participatory
      • Consultative: The leader actively solicits the opinions and suggestions of the participants, but makes the decisions himself/herself.
      • Consensus: In democratic decision making, all participants provide input, vote, and arrive at a final decision that the group agrees to.
  • Ways of reaching a decision

    2. Ways of reaching a decision

    There are four methods groups can make decisions:

    • Dictatorship: one person makes the decisions for the group
    • Majority: with more than 50% support.
    • Plurality: the decision with the greatest support (highest percentage) is taken, even if the majority (50%) is not reached
    • Unanimity: all participants agree on a single course of action.
  • Simple Voting

    3. Simple Voting

    Simple voting is a participatory decision-making technique. The team votes for or against an idea by showing hands.

  • Thumbs Up, Down, or Sideways

    4. Thumbs Up, Down, or Sideways

    The thumb technique is another voting technique for participatory decision making.
    Each participant expresses their preference for a decision with the direction of their thumb:

    • Thumbs up: for the decision
    • Thumbs down: against the decision
    • Thumb sideways: neutral or undecided
  • Fist-of-Five Voting

    5. Fist-of-Five Voting

    Five-finger voting is a consensus-based decision-making technique in which participants can indicate how much they support a decision or idea by the number of fingers they show.

  • Highsmith Decision Spectrum

    6. Highsmith Decision Spectrum

    Highsmith Decision Spectrum is a group decision making where participants tick a mark on a spectrum to indicate their support for an idea or decision.
    The spectrum ranges from "In favour" "Okay but with reservations", "Mixed feelings" to "Not in favor but will commit" or "Veto".