Groups need diversity of information, perspectives, and
skills, but too many members complicate the discussion process. Groups should
be least-sized:
as small as possible with the requisite diversity and variety needed to do
the job.
Ideally, group members facing a typical discussion task
should be high in cognitive complexity so they can deal with complex multifaceted
problems. Members who are high self-monitors, and thus rhetorically sensitive,
think carefully before speaking.
Groups,
particularly those with members high in preference for procedural order,
generally perform better when they follow some systematic process for solving
problems.
The
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® helps members understand basic
personality differences rooted in how people perceive the world; ideally,
members appreciate the diverse strengths these differences bring to the
group.
Members should have a sense of responsibility for the
success of the group, exhibited by their dependability, commitment to group
goals,
and follow-through in completing their fair share of the group’s work.
Members who are passive, passive-aggressive, aggressive, or high in communication apprehension create problems for a group.
Ideal members
are assertive.
Group members should strive to develop egalitarian rather
than authoritarian attitudes, which inhibit optimum group functioning.
Successful group members are willing to communicate
openly, without dogmatism about their own opinions, which is the point
of small
group discussion.
