Seven Ways to Prevent Groupthink
- Sep 12, 2016
- 3 min read
Let’s say you're hosting a meeting and need your team to make a collective decision: Should you get pizza or tacos for the client lunch?
Thomas interrupts before you can even finish the question. “Of course we’re going to get tacos. Ha! You’d be stupid not to! It will make us stand out from every other company.” Silence fills the room. Okay, tacos sound good.
Three of the 15 people share their opinion: pizza. And you knock-knock the gavel. Pizza it is.
Or perhaps you give your opinion first. “I think tacos are the best way to go.” Heads nod in agreement.
Here’s the all-too-real and relatable problem with each of these scenarios: your team suffered from groupthink.
It’s easy for the loudest voice or highest title in the room to influence the bunch and the quietest group to be forgotten. You hired your team for a reason, and that reason is that you trust their opinion. So it’s important to make sure everyone has a voice. Here are seven ways to prevent groupthink:
1. Surround yourself with diversified thinkers.
Bring in people who will have different opinions than you. Consider members from other (applicable teams), like finance or marketing, and those from other parts of the country or world if you’re working with a national or international team. Just be sure to only involve them in situations where they can be valuable contributors(!).
2. Give attendees the chance to prepare for the meeting.
Some people are great at thinking and speaking on-the-fly. Others need time to consider ideas and ways to express them in an eloquent way. Help make the meeting more valuable and successful by sending out the topics you’ll be addressing ahead of time and ask people to think about them. Then it’s your job to facilitate the meeting.
If it is a decision that could not be made in one meeting, ask attendees to send any further ideas in an email after the meeting. This also helps team members who don’t feel as comfortable speaking out.
3. Use survey tools.
The subjective method allows everyone to be heard and prevents the loudest voice from making the decision. Set up a survey (using a site like Survey Monkey) when the meeting includes people out of the office. Online surveys are especially useful for international teams.
If everyone is sitting in the same room, have them write the answers down or raise their hands on "three," and let the facilitator or note-taker collect and share results.
4. Whiteboard.
Make the room open for suggestions. Have people call out solutions and write each and every one the whiteboard without criticizing. No ideas are bad ideas. Once all ideas are up, go through and one-by-one discuss every solution. You might even find a combination will work best. Taco pizzas, anyone?
5. Call people out.
Specifically ask team members that are dialed in for their opinion. It can be difficult to know when to cut into the conversation without being able to see body gestures, so it's helpful and empowering to ask directly.
6. Silence is acceptance.
Explain to your team that it is assumed they agree if they do not speak up. Survey the room when a decision is about to be made to give the quieter members a last chance to give their two cents.
7. Share your opinion last.
It’s more comfortable to express agreement than disagreement. When you are manager and share your idea first, it will be harder for others to express or come up with fresh ideas out of fear of disagreeing with the boss.
The pizza vs. taco scenario was an unnecessary one…of course you’re going to go with pizza because who doesn’t like pizza? But that’s beside the point. The point is that you hired your team for a reason. And that reason is that you trust them and their decision making skills.
When you make your team members’ opinions feel important and equal, you create a rewarding work environment that reiterates your appreciation for everyone’s contributions. Just be sure to stop and ask.
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Jackie Vermeulen is the founder of The Career Mint. She works closely with mentors and some off-site experts to address the hard-hitting career topics in articles like the one you’re reading now.
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