Supervisor's Survival Kit: Your First Step into Management, Ninth Edition

THE GROUP DECISION

The group-decision approach can accomplish a great deal if the supervisor uses it skillfully. When should it be used? (1) When the decision will have an influence on employees; (2) when the decision requires no urgency; (3) when departmental priorities permit; (4) when you are willing to abide by the decisions the group makes; and (5) when you have created and maintained a team approach. Here is how one successful supervisor puts it:

When I left college three years ago, I thought I would be a Theory Y person at least 90 percent of the time. I really believed in it because I was convinced that it would improve morale and achieve great individual productivity. My goal has not been achieved. In fact, I feel good if I am 60 percent ...