How do you fix groupthink?
- Recruit a diverse team.
- Remain an impartial leader.
- Encourage conflict and debate.
- Assign the role of devil's advocate.
- Gather outside opinions.
- Allow for independent evaluation.
- Recruit a Diverse Team. In lean organizations, each person is critically important. ...
- Organize Your Space. ...
- Make Time for Independent Evaluation. ...
- Encourage Personal and Professional Development to Avoid Groupthink. ...
- Celebrate Diverse Perspectives.
How do you prevent groupthink?
The first step for preventing groupthink is to make sure the entire team is aware of what it is, as well as how and why it can occur. Discuss how recognizing this behavior can not only benefit individuals personally but also the company. Irving Janis studied and coined the term groupthink and described the 8 symptoms as:
What is groupthink and how can it be replaced?
Groupthink is a habit that is usually firmly established over time. However, by applying the correct strategies you can replace groupthink with good group decision-making habits that will benefit your entire team and company. Here are some ways you can improve your team and avoid groupthink:
Is your team struggling with groupthink?
Afflicted with groupthink, your team will rarely challenge itself. In a lean organization, challenge and diversity are vital. Recognize the value of each team member and make a conscious effort to remind them to do the same! Ready to take your organization to the next level?
What are the symptoms of groupthink in business?
Here are a few of the symptoms of groupthink: Self-censorship: Individuals in a team will remain quiet about views that are contrary to the ideas and decisions the group has decided on. Collective rationalization: Team members won’t reconsider their beliefs and they will ignore warning signs.
What is groupthink and how can it be prevented?
Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon in which people make largely unanimous and unquestioning decisions for a variety of reasons: Avoidance of disagreement and conflict. The desire to maintain the status quo. The pull to conform with others.
What is the key to preventing groupthink?
Groupthink thrives when there's no conflict, and shaking things up with new ideas is sure to turn into a debate sooner or later. Moderate these debates so they don't get out of hand—but don't shut them down unless it's necessary. Encouraging dissent is one of the key principles of avoiding groupthink.
How do you handle groupthink in a school project?
How to Avoid Groupthink TrapsEducate the Team. ... Encourage a Devil's Advocate. ... Promote Diversity and Inclusivity. ... Cultivate an Idea Meritocracy. ... Change the Method, Not the Message. ... Manage Decision-Making Pressures.
1. Recruit a Diverse Team
In lean organizations, each person is critically important. When holding an interview, spend time talking about more than their resume; learn their story. How will they add to the diversity of interests, experiences, passions and positions represented?
3. Make Time for Independent Evaluation
Susan Cain has advocated that the modern work environment is better suited for extroverts because brainstorming, sharing and decision making are primarily meeting activities. While introverts may have a particularly rough time, using meetings as a primary form of discussion means that your team cannot independently evaluate an issue.
4. Encourage Personal and Professional Development to Avoid Groupthink
Diversity strategies should be as much of a consideration for current team members as it is in recruitment.
5. Celebrate Diverse Perspectives
Most importantly, celebrate the strategic mind of each team member. Demand discussion by always asking “why” when someone proposes something new. Encourage constructive debate. Highlight where an individual’s experience better informed a strategy (e.g., a test design, marketing copy).
What is groupthink?
The term “groupthink” was first used by a social psychologist named Irving Janis, and it is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when a well-intentioned group works together to make decisions and strives for harmony and consensus. This, in turn, leads to non-optimal decision making and conformity within the group.
Symptoms of groupthink
These ‘symptoms’ were developed by Janis to show the way groupthink influences individuals and teams. These symptoms display a need for team improvement. Here are a few of the symptoms of groupthink:
How to recognize groupthink in your workplace
It is important to observe your team’s morale and their current level of engagement. There may be subtle details that you won’t notice until you know how to identify and recognize signs of groupthink in your workplace. Here are some signs that could signal groupthink in your workplace:
How to improve your team without groupthink
Groupthink is a habit that is usually firmly established over time. However, by applying the correct strategies you can replace groupthink with good group decision-making habits that will benefit your entire team and company. Here are some ways you can improve your team and avoid groupthink:
What does groupthink look and feel like?
To recognize its presence, keep an eye out for any of the following impacts of Groupthink:
1. Educate the Team
The first step for preventing groupthink is to make sure the entire team is aware of what it is, as well as how and why it can occur. Discuss how recognizing this behavior can not only benefit individuals personally but also the company. Irving Janis studied and coined the term groupthink and described the 8 symptoms as:
3. Promote Diversity and Inclusivity
Today, most of us understand the significance of diversity in the workplace and know that it is a key influence to contest unilateral points of view. Different people, with different backgrounds and life experiences, will naturally approach problems from varied perspectives.
4. Cultivate an Idea Meritocracy
Nothing feels more defeating than having an opinion but not trusting that it will be valued by others. Creating a psychologically safe environment where permission to speak up is not only allowed but encouraged allows for ideas to originate from all team members regardless of their rank. This is an “Idea Meritocracy”.
5. Change the Method, Not the Message
Even within an inclusive and non-hierarchical environment, some team members may still be hesitant to speak up due to a fear of public speaking or lack of confidence in their ideas. For people struggling with speaking in front of an audience, it’s key to encourage participation.
6. Manage Decision-Making Pressures
People become more susceptible to groupthink when they’re under pressure. The Challenger failure is a perfect example of this, where due to time constraints and PR pressures, groupthink took over, and lives were lost. Any severe constraints such as unrealistic timelines or threats of negative consequences can encourage groupthink.
Symptoms of groupthink
The concept "groupthink," coined by Social Psychologist Irving Janis, describes a psychological phenomenon that happens when a well-intentioned group works together to make decisions and aims for harmony and consensus. Janis outlined the symptoms of groupthink to demonstrate how it affects people and organizations, which include:
What is groupthink?
Groupthink is a phenomenon where a group's consensus, rather than a collection of individual opinions, determines issues and decisions within the group. In this situation, the need for group cohesion can limit good decision-making and problem-solving. Groupthink happens when a group makes poor or inefficient judgments to reach an agreement.
How to recognize groupthink within an organization
Monitoring your team's morale and current level of involvement is critical in recognizing groupthink. You may miss minor nuances unless you understand how to identify and recognize groupthink symptoms in the workplace. Here are some indicators that your company may experience groupthink:
How to correct groupthink in your team
When you've discovered groupthink in your organization, it's best to know how to correct it before it develops significantly. Groupthink is a habit that some teams develop over time. You may replace groupthink with proactive group decision-making practices that can benefit your whole team and organization with the right techniques.
Tools you can use to fix groupthink
If your team is experiencing groupthink, there are processes you can use to remedy these symptoms. The following tools can help you fix groupthink within the organization:
