Page 81 - Effective group discussion theory and practice by Adams, Katherine H. Brilhart, John K. Galanes, Gloria J

64 Chapter 3

One specific type of interchange between a group and its environment is
Feedback
feedback, which is the environment’s response to output it has received from the
A response to a group. It can come in the form of information or tangible resources and helps the
system’s output; it system determine whether it needs to make adjustments to reach its goals. For
may come in the form
of information or instance, one goal of the church board was having its bylaws approved by its denomi-
tangible resources nation’s Ministerial Association. To achieve this goal, the board actively sought
and helps the system feedback:
determine whether or Sally: I used to know people at the Association, but everyone I knew has moved on.
not it needs to make The Association’s approval is critical—if they don’t like our bylaws, we won’t get
adjustments in
moving toward its official approval as a church.
goal. Sunni: Is there any way we can get a preliminary reaction, before we send our final
draft?
Norm: Yes—remember Reverend Lacy, from Columbia? She said she’d help us
however she could, and she’s on a couple of committees at the Association. She
could look at the bylaws and tell us how the Association is likely to react.
Reverend Lacy did have several suggestions for modifying the bylaws. Her reac-
tion (feedback) to the draft of the bylaws (the output) produced several changes in the
bylaws that strengthened them and enhanced their chances of being approved. This is
similar to the student group mentioned earlier, in which members asked one of us to
comment on their paper so that they could improve it. This feedback from the profes-
sor helped them achieve their goal of receiving an A. Uncertainty often motivates a
group to seek feedback thus increasing its value to a group. 14
The usefulness of feedback is not only dependent on its need but also the type
15
and source of feedback. Obviously, feedback that is relevant, clear, and accurate is
more helpful than irrelevant and inaccurate feedback. However, critical feedback, no
matter how clear and accurate, can be hard to give and receive. A way for groups to
hear critical feedback is to have it framed as a group issue rather than a personal one.
In a recent department program review one of us was involved in, the review team,
while noticing individual behaviors that were not conducive to team work, created
feedback relevant to the entire group rather than individual members. Groups must
also assess the trustworthiness of their sources of feedback, how responsive the
feedback is to the group needs, and the status of the person offering the feedback. 16
Just as input, throughput, and output components are interdependent, so is a
group highly interdependent with its environment or the setting in which the group
exists. Many small group researchers have criticized small group research for ignoring
the effect of the group’s environment on the group. Some group researchers have
17
implied that the quality of a group’s output is entirely or largely within a group’s con-
trol. They have suggested that as long as the group has skilled and knowledgeable
members (inputs) and effective leadership with helpful norms such as a conscientious
attitude and good listening behaviors (throughputs), then the group will produce
high-quality outputs. This oversimplifies the case because most groups are not
self-contained entities but in fact are highly dependent on their environments. For
instance, Broome and Fulbright asked real-life group members what factors hurt their

gal37018_ch03_051_074.indd 64 3/28/18 12:34 PM