Tool #5 for decision making is something that most people would not have heard or seen this before. This decision model has a close link with situational leadership 😲. The model can be used by everyone, irrespective of rank or position and helps to choose the right management style in various decision situations.
The Vroom-Yetton-Jago decision model,
is a tool to support people in the selection of an approach to decision making. Because no single approach to decision making is appropriate in circumstances, the model directs users by means of eight questions to one appropriate to their situation.
The parameters shaping a decision are quality, commitment of group or organization members, and time restrictions.
The Vroom-Yetton-Jago model accounts for three styles of leadership:
👉Autocratic: The leader makes the decision and informs others; 👉Consultative: The leader gathers information from the team prior to making the decision; 👉Collaborative: The team work together to reach a consensus.
It accounts for five decision making processes:
Autocratic 1 (A1): The leader uses the information that they already have to make the decision themselves;
Autocratic 2 (A2): The leader asks team members for specific pieces of information, but may not inform the team about the decision to be made;
Consultative 1 (C1): The leader informs the team about the decision to be made, but will make the decision in isolation;
Consultative 2 (C2): The leader is responsible for the decision, but the team discuss the situation together;
Group (G): The team make the decision together. The leader’s role is as a facilitator and to support the team during this process.|
Victor Vroom, Phillip Yetton and Arthur Jago developed eight questions that must be answered with yes or no to arrive at the right decision style. All the questions have a certain theme. These themes are represented by the abbreviations in the model.
The eight questions must be answered in the order below by the leader so as to determine the right leadership style and decision method.
👉Is the quality of the decision very important? Are the consequences of possible failure significant? – QR (quality requirement)
👉Is a successful result dependent upon the team members? – CR (commitment requirement)
👉Does the leader have sufficient information to make an important decision alone? – LI (leader’s information)
👉Has the problem been defined and structured properly so it can be easily understood what needs to be done and what a good solution might be? ST – (problem structure)
👉When a leader makes the decision himself, is it likely to assume that the team is sufficiently involved and motivated and will accept the decision? – CP (commitment probability)
👉Are the goals of the team consistent with the goals of the organisation that have been set to define a successful solution? – GC (goal congruence)
👉If the team has to make a decision, are conflicts expected about the decision to be made and solution? – CO (subordinate Conflicts)
👉Do the team members and other external parties have sufficient information to make an important decision? – SI (subordinate information)
The Vroom-Yetton-Jago model analyzes the decision-making process in order to reach the best methodology to make a decision based on the factors of quality, collaboration, and time. Critics do point out that there are disadvantages due to the lack of personal factors that may mask decisions .While there are advantages and disadvantages for this model, it provides a tool for leaders and design managers to decide which route to take to make a decision.
Some situations requires consulting a team and making a group decision yet others may require a more autocratic attitude, especially when there is a limited time to hear from group members.