Assignment: Decision Making in Groups and Effective Communication
You are a consultant hired to help improve the productivity of Celia Jane, a medium-sized furniture design firm. Celia Jane always kept up with the competition but now would like to gain some market share and expand its business.
Traditionally, employees at Celia Jane work in groups of eight. Li, the CEO of Celia Jane, believes that working in groups aids creativity and productivity. As the consultant, however, you know that working in groups also has some negative consequences.
Explain to Li the factors that lead to ineffective decision making in groups, taking into consideration the following terms:
Social loafing
Free riding
The sucker effect
Process loss
Groupthink
How does each factor affect the organization's productivity?
How will you determine the stage of group development that the groups are currently in, and how will this influence your suggestions to Li?
What suggestions will you make to Li about how he can maximize the productivity of the work groups?
Li also believes that one great advantage of working in groups is brainstorming. As the consultant, suggest what he can do to ensure brainstorming is as effective as possible.
Using what we have learned regarding communication, write a plan which explains the best way for Li to effectively communicate his expectations regarding group work to his employees.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.