Tent City Case Study Groupthink

Department of Public works |

Tent City Case Study |

Groupthink Solutions |

|

Rico |

11/29/2008 |

The content of this document is a Project Management pre-emptive recommendation to raise awareness, and therefore apply the necessary techniques to prevent Groupthink. |

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Tent City Case Study

Groupthink Solutions

There is a long history and nearly endless applications for team development. People form alliances on a daily basis with one another on a social level. This usually occurs because of common beliefs or goals between them. Many corporations recognize the power that results from these coalitions and utilizes it to advance their objectives. These companies understand that assembling employees together on teams creates a synergistic result. Even with the strength and superiority of the many, however, lies a hidden vulnerability known as, “Groupthink”.

Groupthink is a concept occurring within a team of associates that causes them to make erroneous decisions. Ordinarily, this inadequate behavior is the consequence of peer pressure. When the majority of a team is in agreement, they have influence over the decision making process of the rest. This creates pressure causing the rest of the members to inadvertently conform their thinking. By doing so, team members will fail to challenge the group with pertinent questions and possible outcomes. If left unchecked, this perception can lead to a disastrous emanation.

There are several ways to prevent groupthink. First of all, I recommend we monitor our team sizes. It’s a fact that larger teams are more subject to groupthink. Since there are

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no perfect team sizes, I suggest we keep them with nine members or less. In addition, I would also like to advocate different perspectives. We’ll need to select team affiliates to take on the responsibility of assuming the perspective of other constitutes. By doing so, this will hopefully...