This booklet is for people who want to improve the effectiveness of groups: group leaders, facilitators, and group members. Some of the basic factors that influence how effectively a group works together are briefly described. Factors that affect group effectiveness fall into two categories: those that affect the way group members accomplish…

The function and history of the School Development Seminar (SDS) are described in this bulletin. The SDS was composed of school faculty and administrators, instructors from a local college, school district administrators, and parents. The participants used the SDS to share information and opinions on a variety of issues including inservice…

This paper is an account of the theoretical and practical underpinnings of the Decision-Proposal Modification Coding System (DPM), which allows researchers to study more accurately the many aspects of group decision making in organizations. Following an introduction that reviews and supports arguments for process-oriented research on decision…

In a project to help all professional members of a junior high school staff improve their group processes, a series of training interventions were spaced throughout the school year to increase their organizational abilities. Two days of a six-day summer workshop were spent in structured game-like exercises designed to increase awareness of…

The Blake Interaction Model presented in this manual is designed to eliminate three problems which usually confront a task force charged with the responsibility of program development in a conference setting: (1) how to involve simultaneously several work groups in the productive capacity developing solutions for several separate problems; (2) how…

DAP is the acronym for a set of concepts and procedures that the members of any group can employ to refine their problemsolving skills and bring them to bear on real-life, day-to-day group needs. Based on a particular view of human beings, communication, and the process of inquiry, DAP involves the members of a group in generating and using three…

The educator today often makes decisions in the face of uncertainty. Although many of these decisions have widespread implications, all too often these determinations are made without benefit of an appropriate decisionmaking procedure. The educator should identify those variables important to arriving at decisions about students' grades, student…

The Institute was set up to introduce an alternative to current methods of staff supervision. To implement this alternative, members of the Boston Department of Staff Development were trained in effective interpersonal communication, a goal-setting technology to enhance teacher motivation, procedures for setting meaningful and measurable…

This book is to be used in a Life Skills Coach Training course. Life skills are defined as problem-solving behaviors appropriately and responsibly used in the management of personal affairs. They apply to the following areas of responsibility: self, family, leisure, community, and job. A course aimed at training people in the life skills implies…

The question whether individual study of risk problems (familiarization) leads to greater risk taking was investigated. Several explanations of the risk taking shifts are explicit in their requirement for group or social interaction. Investigations of whether risk shifts can be produced in the absence of group interaction have produced conflicting…

Good college leadership requires a kind of collaboration, it is argued, and creative collaborative work is the best route towards bold and effective leadership. Defining leadership, leadership models, leadership as problem solving, and leadership as taking a stand are discussed. (MLW)

This article focuses on the following areas of group process: the nature of the task group, the steps taken to reach a decision, and the ways in which a leader can effectively manage the inevitable conflict that emerges within groups as the problem-solving process progresses. (CT)

Presents the basic general component of the guided group interaction model as it applies to a group-home setting, elements that make this a workable approach, problems, and evaluative results. The group as the element of change, staff role, group composition, and the group meeting are discussed. (JH)

The paper presents literature related to the problems and promises of interdisciplinary work. Important characteristics of effective work groups are described, and origins of difficulty in groups are discussed. Most work on groups has been based on research on groups that come together only in the laboratory. These groups are different from…