A tendency toward conformity leads teams to take actions that any individual group member might consider unwise. Relationships between group members also strongly influence decision-making. There is no room for free exchange of opinions or analysis of facts. Group actions are focused on avoiding conflict. Groupthink also means yielding to suggestions and pressure from the group in which one is a member.
Conditions that likely foster groupthink:
- lack of sufficient knowledge to make an independent decision
- dominant leader
- high group cohesion
- high stress
- limited time to make a decision
How can you tell if your team is susceptible to groupthink? What should you do if it is?
Recognize if groupthink applies to your team
Consider whether the following behaviors (Janis’s 8 factors of groupthink) are present in your team:
- Illusion of omnipotence (belief in the absolute rightness of the group)
- Conviction of moral superiority (belief in one’s own professional ethics, disregarding the ethical and moral aspects of decisions)
- Stereotyping of opponents (disregarding results and people outside the team)
- Illusion of unanimity (everyone thinks and feels the same, and silence implies consent)
- Self-censorship (prevents those with opposing views from expressing their opinions)
- Conformism (pressure on conforming to group norms)
- Information filtering (preventing information that contradicts the group’s “opinion”)
- Rationalization (prevents reconsideration of decisions and ignores warning signs).
If groupthink applies to you
An effective leader systematically encourages critical evaluation of ideas, including their own. They manage the team by creating an atmosphere of openness in which all members share ideas.
What can you do?
- Invite external experts (consultants, experts from other teams, coaches, mentors) to participate in your processes or discussions, e.g., during a retrospective.
- Divide the group into separate teams for discussions/brainstorming sessions, and then confront their findings.
- Appoint a “devil’s advocate,” someone who attacks a just cause or defends an unjust one; a senior or expert person would be a good choice for this role.
- When making decisions, use anonymous surveys.
- During team meetings, introduce diverse, rotating roles, e.g., one person summarizes the thoughts or meeting, another takes notes, someone argues for decision A, and someone else for decision B – rotate roles every meeting, every week, or as needed.
