Group Discussions

When your tough business requires a solution, you are likely to discuss it to a group. However, more minds are not necessarily better than one, means larger pools of knowledge doesn't guarantee a better outcome. Due to an over-reliance on hierarchy, an instinct to prevent resentment and a desire from preserving harmony, many groups fall into groupthink.

Misconceived expert opinions can distort a group decision fast. Individual biases can quickly spread around the group and lead to results far beyond personal preferences, and most of these processes happen subconsciously.

Although this doesn't mean that groups should make every decision together, you need to create the right process for doing so.

There are seven simple strategies for better and more influential group decision making based on researches behavioural and decision science and years of application experience:

Small Group While Making an Important Decision

Large groups are more likely to make biased decisions. For instance, research shows that more than seven people in a group are more susceptible to confirmation bias. The larger the group, the broader the tendency for its members to research and scrutinise information in such a way that is consistent with pre-existing information and beliefs. Minimizing the group to three or five people can help them naturally gravitate toward when interacting. Thus, you can reduce these adverse effects while still availing benefits from multiple perspectives.

Heterogeneous Group Over Homogenous One

Several studies have found that teams containing individuals with homogeneous opinions and belief have a broader tendency toward biased decision making. Groups that have potentially opposing points of view can effectively counter biases. However, it depends on the context. When you are trying to deliver a complex task that needs diverse skills and perspectives like conducting research and designing process, a heterogeneous group may substantially outperform homogeneous one. Homogenous groups often do better in repetitive tasks because it requires convergent thinking in a structured environment like adhering safety procedures in healthcare. As a leader, you need to understand the nature of the decision you're expecting the group to make first before you create a suitable team.

Gather Independent Opinions

The collective knowledge of a team is an advantage if it's used correctly. To get the most out of your group's vast range of capabilities, collecting individual opinions are recommended before people share their thoughts within the large group. For instance, you can ask all your team members to jot down their independent ideas and share a document anonymously and share them to assess the proposed ideas. By following this iterative process, groups can counter biases and resist groupthink. This process also affirms that perceived seniority, alleged expertise, or hidden agendas don't play a role in what the group decides to do.

Provide a Safe Space to Speak up

If you want the team members to share opinions and engage in constructive dissent, they need to feel that they can speak up without fear or hesitation of retribution. Three essential elements are required to make a space safe and harness a group's diversity effectively. These are listed below:

  • Focus feedback on the decision or discussed strategy, not on the human.
  • Express comments as a suggestion, not as a mandate
  • Share feedback such a way that shows your empathy and appreciation towards the individual working on your joint goal.

Don’t Rely on Experts Entirely

Experts can help teams make more informed decisions. However, blind trust in expert opinions can lead a group susceptible to biases and distort the expected outcome. Making them part of the decision making can sway the group to adapt their views to make overconfident judgements. Hence invite experts to provide their opinion on a well-defined topic and position them as informed outsiders beforehand to the group.

Share Responsibility Collectively

Ultimately, the outcome of a decision may be influenced by elements as simple as the choice of the team's messenger. You may have noticed one individual is responsible for selecting suitable team members, arranging the agenda, and communicating the results as well. When there's such case, individual biases can easily affect the decision of the entire group. Negative tendencies can be effectively counteracted if different roles are assigned to other team members, based on their expertise. Moreover, each member should be involved and feel accountable to bring out the final outcome.

Although following these steps doesn't guarantee a great decision, the effective the quality of the decision-making process and the interaction between the group members, the greater your possibilities of achieving a successful outcome.