Question

susan is the manager of a marketing team responsible for developing a new advertising campaign for an upcoming product launch. during team meetings, susan notices that one team member, a senior and influential member, tends to dominate discussions and often dismisses or discourages opposing viewpoints. susan wants to ensure that all team members feel empowered to contribute their ideas without fear of suppression.

which of the following actions best addresses the issue of suppression of dissent and promotes a more inclusive decision-making process?

a.) encourage open communication and actively solicit input from all team members, emphasizing the value of diverse perspectives.

b.) assign specific tasks to each team member, limiting their involvement in group discussions.

c.) to minimize the influence of dominant individuals, implement a voting system where team members anonymously vote on different ideas.

d.) in order to avoid potential conflicts in group settings, hold individual meetings with each team member to gather their opinions separately.

Explanation:

Analyze the group dynamic issue

The scenario describes a common issue in Group Dynamics where a senior, influential member dominates discussions and suppresses opposing viewpoints. This leads to a lack of psychological safety and prevents other team members from contributing, which can harm the quality of the marketing campaign.

Evaluate the proposed solutions

We need to find the action that best addresses the suppression of dissent and promotes an inclusive decision-making process:

• Option a directly addresses the issue by actively encouraging open communication and soliciting input from everyone. This fosters an inclusive environment where diverse perspectives are explicitly valued.
• Option b limits group discussions entirely, which destroys collaborative synergy rather than fixing the communication dynamic.
• Option c uses anonymous voting to bypass dominance, but it does not encourage open discussion, sharing of diverse ideas, or active collaboration.
• Option d avoids group interaction altogether, which prevents the team from building consensus and collaborating dynamically.

Select the best managerial action

Using effective Decision-Making Styles, a manager should facilitate open dialogue. Therefore, encouraging open communication and actively soliciting input (Option a) is the most constructive and inclusive approach to resolve the suppression of dissent.

Answer:

• a.) Encourage open communication and actively solicit input from all team members, emphasizing the value of diverse perspectives. (Correct answer)
• b.) Assign specific tasks to each team member, limiting their involvement in group discussions.
• c.) To minimize the influence of dominant individuals, implement a voting system where team members anonymously vote on different ideas.
• d.) In order to avoid potential conflicts in group settings, hold individual meetings with each team member to gather their opinions separately.