To address the lack of research focusing on naturally occurring groups within an organizational context, a study examined the selection process and criteria that individuals use when allowed to self-select members for task groups. Subjects, 248 students enrolled in a basic communication course at a midwestern university, self-selected themselves into 47 groups (three to seven members each) as part of a class assignment. After participating in various acquaintance activities, subjects formed groups by signing their names on the blackboard with others they wanted to join in a group. The students then gave written responses to an open-ended question asking about the selection process and characteristics involved in choosing their fellow group members. Results showed that physical attractiveness was not a central issue when task groups were being formed, and that individuals used active communication processes and relied on communication characteristics or characteristics that could be inferred from interaction in making group member selection. Responses also indicated that subjects looked for characteristics that defined an individual's willingness to work, ability to get along with others, openness to communicate, and similarities of interest and personality. (Three tables listing process and characteristic variable frequencies and percentages, and process and characteristic variable relationships are included, and a summary of process and characteristic variables and 15 references are appended.) (MM)