Group decision making: teaching the process--an introductory Guided Design project

The Guided Design experience gives students excellent grounding in the decision-making process and knowledge of a decision-making language that will serve them well in all group decision-making contexts. The detailed component analysis, constraint identifications and the who, what, when, where, why and how questions applied to information gathering and analysis are simple terms, easily understood. The steps are applicable to problems needing a cause identification, solve process, and for anticipating potential problems. The process can be taught early in the curriculum and utilized throughout with special re-emphasis in leadership and management classes. The strength of the described unit lies in the provision of an introductory, nonthreatening classroom opportunity for practice in the use of decision-making language and an experience with the process using familiar content. The students experience the complexity of group decision making and the interesting variety of solutions possible for each complex problem. Like the Guided Design process, the projects used are improved with each successive experience. Student and colleague feedback provides the challenge.