Page 354 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

Tools for Assessing and Evaluating Groups 337

TABLE 12.12
1. How do you feel about today’s discussion? Postmeeting
excellent ______ good ______ all right ______ not too good ______ bad ______ reaction (PMR) form
(Example 2)
2. What were the strong points of the discussion?

3. What were the weaknesses?

4. What changes would you suggest for future meetings?
(You need not sign your name.)

Recap: A Quick Review

roups can benefit when members take the time to assess themselves, each other,
Gand the group as a whole.
1. Numerous instruments, such as personality inventories and rating scales, can help
members learn about themselves; several examples were presented, but others
can be found in textbooks and through the Internet.
2. Sometimes the information is given only to the member, but often members discuss
within the group what they learned about themselves and how their behaviors affect
the group.
3. Members can assess each other’s behavior, thus providing valuable feedback to
each other; any of the instruments and scales used for self-assessment can be
modified to be used for assessing other members or the leader.
4. Groups should regularly evaluate their meetings and their processes so that they
can make needed adjustments.
5. Any element of a group—its norms, decision making, leadership, and so forth—can
be evaluated; questionnaires and rating scales can be specifically tailored to focus
on the specific areas you most want to evaluate.
6. Postmeeting reaction forms are questionnaires used to evaluate specific meetings;
they can be designed to evaluate specific areas of a meeting (such as the group’s
decision-making effectiveness) or can be more general (such as evaluating whether
members thought a meeting was effective).

Consultant
Calling for Outside Help: The Consultant A nonparticipant
Sometimes, even the most knowledgeable group members or leaders may become so observer who works
immersed in discussion of a particular issue that they lose sight of the process, or they with a group to
just can’t distance themselves enough to take an objective look. That’s when a determine what it
consultant, an observer who does not participate in the group’s discussion, can be a needs, then helps by
providing information,
real asset in spotting what might be wrong and helping a group fix its problems. special techniques,
Evaluating a group’s process has been shown to be beneficial to both small groups and procedures.
and the organizations that created them. 5

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