Group items tagged

This website offers more information on the phenomenon of "Groupthink," how to spot it, and how to avoid it. This is mainly intended for the workplace, but a lot of it is relevant for school groups, too. The term "Groupthink" was coined by Irving Janis, who pointed out that Groupthink occurs when there is one strong, persuasive group leader, a high level of group cohesion, and intense pressure from an outside source to make a good decision. This site suggests that when a group is in the decision-making process, in order to avoid Groupthink, they should make a point to explore objectives and alternatives, as well as to encourage members to challenge each others' ideas. The "Team Writing" text mentioned using brainstorming as a tactic, in which ideas are allowed to flow freely without any form of evaluation from the group. This site mentions such a tactic, as well as spreading out contribution to include everyone and giving each member a different perspective so that someone will always be playing the "Devil's Advocate."