Decision making is an integral and necessary part of developing and progressing in a team, it 's a sequence of activities that includes gathering, interpreting, and exchanging information as well as creating and identifying alternative courses of action (Thompson, 2014). Decision making is key for problem solving, creativity and managing ideas - information that is distributed amongst a team must be given equally to all its participants. This information should be integrated into the problem-solving process. Within in any team, there are different issues and situations that can arise which can prevent the team from prevailing - there are five pitfalls which can affect a team 's decision making. Groupthink, escalation of …show more content…
Some members in a team tends to conform to a position just because other people on the team wants it. Abilene Paradox can also occur due to intimidation especially when there is an expert in the group and so others may likely agree with what the individual who has more experience or expertise in the group and so can get too intimidated to voice out their opinion. Also, lack of confidence can lead to Abilene Paradox because team members may feel their contributions may be wrong (Thompson, 2014). Unfortunately, Abilene Paradox is a common dilemma in teams and it is the reason why many team projects fail due to members supporting projects that they do not believe in. In addition, Abilene Paradox exist because people do not like to be criticized or be on the receiving end of a negative reaction from others and so they easily agree with what the most qualified individual to avoid being labeled in a negative way or incur the wrath or negative feelings of others in the group. Abilene Paradox can be avoided by letting team members know that it is okay to voice their opinions even if it is wrong. Also, introducing private voting before a final decision is made on any issue. That way everyone is given an opportunity to contribute to the