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The Small Group as a System 63

degree of interchange between itself and the congregation that constituted the main
part of its environment, which made it an extremely open system. The board meetings
were open to anyone from the congregation. In addition, the board held “town
meetings” once every couple of months, at which congregation members were invited
to share their opinions about the running of the church. Input was sought in other
ways, too, including suggestion boxes in the foyer, e-mail, and through the church’s
website.
In contrast, a closed system has relatively little interchange between the group Closed System
and its environment. Its boundaries are more solid or less porous than an open sys- A system, such
tem. An organization resisting change from “outsiders” may control their internal as a small group,
affairs by cutting off information from the outside and at the same time rejecting with relatively
information that could help the company improve operations. American courts are impermeable
finding it harder to “close” the boundaries between juries and their environment boundaries, resulting
during a trial due the increasing ease jurors have to access information through social in little interchange
13
media. Senate Republicans closed down all contact with other while they deliber- between the system
ated and wrote their version of a health care bill in 2017. They even went so far as to and its environment.
try to restrict the contact between members and the press in the hallways of the
Senate building. Tightening of boundaries is an effort of the group to control informa-
tion between the group and its environment. However, there is no completely closed
social system.

Recap: A Quick Review
A
group system can be described by examining its components:

1. Inputs are the raw materials a group uses to do its work; they include things such as
information, ideas, resources, and members and their attitudes.
2. Throughput processes involve how a group actually functions, what members
actually do with the inputs they receive. Communication is the key throughput
process; by communicating, members make decisions, manage conflict, establish
leadership and roles, and do the work of the group.
3. Outputs are what the group produces; they may be tangible (a report, a policy) or
intangible (increased cohesiveness among members, increased self-confidence).
4. The environment is the setting in which a group operates and strongly influences
how successful a group can be.
5. Open systems (such as classroom groups) have free interchange between
themselves and their environments, with information and resources flowing freely
back and forth. Closed systems (such as cloistered monasteries) do not have such
free exchanges. No human system is completely closed.
6. Feedback is the environment’s response to a group’s output. Feedback lets the
group know whether and how it must adjust to achieve its goals, such as the
outside minister’s response to the church board’s bylaws, which suggested a
few changes.

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