When the need for a group agreement override the people desire to air their opinion, alternative and suggestion on a certain issue, groupthink occurs. The need for the group to be one in the making of the decisions results in bad decisions and unrealistic problem solving ways. This is because the decision made is always the opinion or the suggestion of one member of the group, and the rest of the members do not argue out; thus, his opinion becomes the decision. He/she may be right or wrong (Neck, Christopher P. & Gregory Moorhead, 1999).
Groupthink may pose major threats to decision-making in that it involves taking a major risk. The group does not always analyze the consequences of the decisions they make or they do not consider the worst outcome of the decisions that hey have made. This always happen because the group always overestimates the success of the decision they have made and ignore the moral and the ethical consequences of the decisions. Also since the group members withhold or distort information that may threaten the belief or the cohesion of the group, the decisions reached may be unrealistic and other possible alternatives may not be considered.
To add to this, the group always see the other groups as weak, and such they do not consider their opinion, and this may result in other people rejecting the decision reached. Since the group members consider themselves as one, no individual should try to deviate from the norms and the behavior. Some members may feel intimidated by decisions reached, and since they cannot air their opinion, they may end up leaving the group this becomes a threat to optimum decision reached (Tetlock, P.E, Petreson , R.S, McGuire C, & Field, P, 2000),.
If a team or a project manager wants to avoid groupthink he/she should encourage cultural diversity in that he should encourage healthy debate and expression of opinion in the place of work. This should also be reflected in the meetings the members are attending. He/ she should encourage the member to express their opinions and other available alternatives.
Another way of avoiding groupthink is watching out for the signals that show that the project or team manager is encouraging groupthink. The project or the team leader should look at himself or herself to see whether he or she shows any sign of disagreement on the opinions and alternatives that have been aired by one of the group members. If so, he/she should try to make him/herself at ease with the discussions in the meeting room (Neck, Christopher P. & Gregory Moorhead, 1999).
Another way of ensuring group think does not occur is through formulating a guideline. Before the project or the team leader comes for a meeting, he/ she should be having the agenda ton be discussed during the meeting. He may then assign each agenda to smaller groups that have been formed. The groups should discuss the agenda and then present it to the whole group, who then offer their suggestions or opinions. This ensures that they all participate in the meeting and thus avoiding groupthink.
To avoid group think, the project/ team manager should rebuild the team. This is because during the discussion, fatigue and or anger may arise, and thus the team/ project manager should give time at the end of the discussion so that the group members can brainstorm over the discussed issues and thus rebuilding the team. A team/ project manager should also ensure that the debate in the meeting room is healthy and that there is no ill feelings among the members and also the member do air their opinions freely without being forced. This ensures that there are no conflict among the members outside the meeting room, which can make them fail to contribute next meeting (Tetlock, P.E, Petreson , R.S, McGuire C, & Field, P, 2000),.
In conclusion, groupthink may not always have a negative or a poor decision, for instant, in the case of battalions, groupthink is used and always result into good decisions. However, though group think has the possibility of a poor decision other factors like lack of information on matter being discussed, ignorance of the members, poor judgment and inadequate time may affect the outcome or the decision made. Thus when making the group selection, the project/ team manager should ensure that he has choose the qualified people on the mater to be discussed. This will ensure that the team chosen has knowledge of the matter to be discussed and that groupthink does not occur.
Reference
Tetlock, P.E, Petreson , R.S, McGuire C, & Field, P, (2000), Assessing Political Groups Dynamics: A test of the Groupthink Model.” journey of personality and social dynamics. New York. Free Press.
Neck, Christopher P.& Gregory Moorhead, (1999), Groupthink Remodeled: The Importance of Leadership. Time Pressure and Methodical Decision Making Procedures.” Human Relation. New York. Cambridge University Press.