Stages of Group Development Forming: people come to feel valued and accepted so that they identify with the

group Storming: the group clarifies its goals and determines the roles each member will have in the group structure Severe storming can threaten the groups survival When a group does not storm, it may experience groupthink, faulty decisions because group pressures lead to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment. Norming: the group solidifies its rules for behavior, especially those that relate to how conflict will be managed Performing: the skills, knowledge, and abilities of all members are combined to overcome obstacles and meet goals successfully Adjourning: members assign meaning to what they have done and discuss how to end or maintain interpersonal relations they have developed Groups need to construct meaning from their shared experience by evaluating and reflecting on the experience It is especially important for groups to have a termination ritual

How to Problem Solving in Groups 1.Define the problem 2.Analyze the problem: entails finding out as much as you can about the problem and solution criteria. Information can be gathered from: Member experience Published materials Other people 3.Determine solutions criteria: develop decisive factors that test and determine whether a solution will solve the problem 4.Identify possible solutions: brainstorm (an uncritical, non evaluative process of generating associated ideas) 5.Evaluate solutions: list solutions and compare each alternative to the solution criteria developed 6.Decide (decision making: the process of choosing among alternatives) 1) Expert opinion method 2) Average group opinion method 3) Majority rule method 4) Unanimous decision method 5) Consensus method