Committee decision making is an approach in which decisions of a given type are routed through a standing group rather than made by a single individual. Common examples include architecture review committees, hiring committees, and design review groups.
Committees increase representation and reduce single-point-of-failure risk in decision making. They also reduce decision velocity, sometimes dramatically. The right use of committees is for decisions whose impact justifies the slower process — typically high-stakes, long-horizon, or cross-cutting choices.
Misused, committees become accountability sinks: decisions that no one made because everyone made them, and that no one is responsible for if they fail.
Why Committee decision making Matters for Distributed Teams
The question is not whether to have committees. It is which decisions belong in committees and which do not. Routing routine decisions through committees produces organizational paralysis.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is committee decision making?
Committee decision making routes decisions through a standing group rather than an individual. It increases representation and reduces single-point-of-failure risk, at the cost of decision velocity. Best used for high-stakes, cross-cutting decisions.
Related Terms
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See committee decision making in action.
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