Decisions are always made in project management. Group discussions are often common in project management. It allows the group to assess different kinds of alternatives as well as reaching an agreement before making the final decision.
Project managers know that there are different types of decision-making techniques and these include unanimity, the majority, plurality, and dictatorship. While it is easy to understand unanimity (consensus among the entire group), the majority (consensus among the majority of the group) and dictatorship ( the main stakeholder is making the decision by himself or herself), plurality is a bit challenging to understand.
This type of decision-making technique is defined as the decision made wherein the largest block in the group decides even if the majority is not achieved during voting. This particular method used in project management decision-making is generally preferred when the number of options that are nominated are numerous (more than two).
It is important to take note that there is no one best way to make the final decision. While it is ideal to have a unanimous decision, this does not happen all the time. Applying two or more decision-making techniques is important.
This term is defined in the 5th edition of the PMBOK.
