Groups in Process
Decision Making Pitfalls,
Foibles, and Techniques
Stages of Group Development
 Forming
 Storming
 Norming
 Performing
 Adjourning
Prof. Nick Burnett, ComS 103, Sec. 1118
Groupthink--Irving Janis

Backdrop to Janis’ work--the Bay of Pigs
and the Cuban Missile Crisis

Characteristics of Groupthink--illusions of
invulnerability, unanimity, and group
morality; self-censorship, shared
stereotypes, screening of adverse
information
Prof. Nick Burnett, ComS 103, Sec. 1118
Solving Groupthink
Appoint a devil’s advocate
 Leaders stay impartial
 Allow second chance meetings
 Invite comments from outside experts,
trusted associates
 Subdivide tasks, then meet together
 Divide planning and evaluation tasks
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Prof. Nick Burnett, ComS 103, Sec. 1118
Brainstorming--Rules and Uses
Appropriate for inquiry, not all tasks
 Rules
avoid negative feedback or evaluation
strive for quantity of ideas
strive for creativity
encourage piggybacking

Prof. Nick Burnett, ComS 103, Sec. 1118
Nominal Group Technique
Ideas are silently generated by individuals
 Ideas are recorded publicly, round-robin
 Each idea is discussed for clarification-criticism not allowed
 Each member selects five, votes publicly
recorded, list is narrowed, decision is
reached

Prof. Nick Burnett, ComS 103, Sec. 1118
Traditional Problem Solving
Based on John Dewey’s Reflective
Thinking Model
 Define the problem
 Research and analyze the problem
 Establish criteria for solutions
 List possible alternative/solutions
 Evaluate each alternative
 Select the best alternative

Prof. Nick Burnett, ComS 103, Sec. 1118
Delphi Technique
No face-to-face meetings, useful for
conferences
 Participant’s ideas are collected and
redistributed
 Each member synthesizes ideas
 Leader creates master list from
participants syntheses
 Participants vote on issues in master list-return to leader

Prof. Nick Burnett, ComS 103, Sec. 1118