Consequences of Dissimilar Group Members

Advantages

– richer pool of information– greater opportunity for

learning from difference– potential division of labor– lower risk of group-think– broader buy-in

Disadvantages

– higher start-up costs– time consuming– greater conflict– potential marginalization– ambiguous responsibility

Consequences of Similar Group Members

Advantages

– lower start-up costs– more group cohesion– greater “efficiency”– greater validation of

solution– less conflict

Disadvantages

– fewer unique perspectives– solution-mindedness– tendency to groupthink– limited capacity to learn

from differences

Individual Strategies for “Minority” Influence

• Express yourself--you owe it to your group.

• Differentiate your position clearly and provide solid justifications for it

• Demand a full explanation of alternative positions

• Refer to group, rather than personal, outcomes

• Consider your own motives. Choose your fights.

Group Strategies for Surfacing Unique Perspectives

• Develop norms that require universal participation (e.g., check-in at beginning of meeting)

• Encourage disagreement (but not acrimony)

• View defining problem as a critical task

• Recheck opinions of all members before finalizing a decision

Common Group Decision Biases

• Common information effect: little time for sharing unique information

• Abilene Paradox: group agreements don’t coincide with any individual preference

• Groupthink: group cohesion valued over quality of decision outcome

• Risky Shift: group judgments are more extreme than individual judgments

Important Issues for Teams: Team Handbook

• Who are we?

• What do we want to accomplish?

• How can we organize ourselves to meet our goals?

• How will we operate?

• How can we continuously learn and improve?

Organizing Our Team

• Work structure– Specify task, deadlines, and goals– Allocate work, responsibilities, and deliverables

• Roles– process: facilitating, timekeeping, recording– task: planning, overseeing outputs, managing

contingencies• Norms

– meetings, leadership, communication, decision-making – norms around changing norms (ongoing and periodic

feedback)

Operating as a Team

• Agenda: time, place, purpose, items to be covered, preparation needed, outputs expected

• Brainstorming: allow time, encourage creativity, record all ideas, don’t evaluate

• Decision-making: agree on method and on mechanisms and times for changing method

• Communicating across differences:– use check-ins and check-outs– use visual displays and notes– recognize different cultures and languages

Critical Clues

*** Rick Rooney Exonerates Mickey Malone(3-4) Millie Smith (at coffee shop & golf course)

*** Dave Daniels Exonerates Billy Prentice(1) (quiet car drops wallet)

*** (next) Marion Guion Implicates Eddie Sullivan(2) (truck not in carport, 6:40 a.m.)

*** (next) Billy Prentice Implicates Eddie Sullivan*** (truck in carport, 8:00 a.m.)