Ground Rules for Effective Groups ■ r Schwarz - ■i Roger Schwarz& Associates, inc. Ground Rules for Effective Groups Roger Schwarz Are you a member of a group that isn't reaching its potential? Why can some groups bring people together, tackle difficult issues, and produce excellent results, while other groups can't? Even when a group has clear goals and talented and motivated members, it can still be ineffective. One reason is ground rules. Many effective groups have explicit ground rules that guide their behavior. When group members use rhese ground rules, they improve working relationships, improve group member satisfaction, improve the quality of theit decisions, increase the commitment of members to follow through on those decisions, and decrease the time needed to effectively implement the decisions. Tn this article, I describe a set of nine ground rules that your group or team can use to work more effectively. The ground rules work for all kinds of groups— executive teams, boards, work teams, committees or task forces, union-management teams, and groups with Roger Schwarz is an organizational psychologist and president and founder of Roger Schwarz 8c Associates, Inc., a consulting firm that helps groups, organizations, and communities use facilitative skills to create fundamental change. Roger serves as consultant, facilitator, and coach to numerous corporations, governments, and nonprofit organizations, and he speaks to various organizations about facilitative leadership and facilitation. Roger helps groups improve their effectiveness and deal with high-stakes difficult conversations. He is the author of The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers, and Coaches, New and Revised Edition (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass 2002). *Io learn more abour Roger Schwarz & Associates, you can visit www.schwarzassociates.com or call 91 9.932.3343. members from more than one organization. The ground rules are from The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers, and Coaches, New and Revised Edition, by Roger Schwarz (San Francisco: jossey-Bass 2002). The Core Values and Assumptions The ground rules arc based on four core values: valid information, free and informed choice, internal commitment, and compassion.1 Groups need valid information to effectively solve problems and make decisions. When you share valid information, you share all the relevant information that you have about an issue, including your thoughts and feelings about how the conversation is going. You share your point of view in such a way that others can understand the reasoning rhar led you to reach your conclusions. Ideally, valid information can be independently confirmed. This means that the information is specific enough that someone else can determine for himself or herself whether the informarion is valid. With free and informed choice, group members make their decisions based on valid information, not on the pressures of others inside or outside the group. Within the group s mission, group members can set their own objectives and the methods for achieving them. Making free and informed choices based on valid information increases the likelihood of gaining internal commitment. Decisions make sense because they are based on the best possible information and the true viewpoints of each member. With internal commitment, each member feels personally responsible for rhe decision and is willing to support the decision, given his or her role. With compassion, you temporarily suspend judgment to understand others who have differing views. You have a genuine concern for orhers' needs as well as your own. When you act with compassion, you infuse the other core values with your intent to understand, empathize with, and help others. 3 Four assumptions underlie the ground rules: (1) I have some relevant information, and other people also have relevant information; (2) each of us may see things the others do not; (3) differences are opportunities for learning; and (4) people are trying to act with integrity, given their situation. With these four assumptions, you become curious about what others know that you don't, open to exploring and learning from conflicts instead of trying to control and win them, and more generous in thinking about what motivates others to act differently from you. If you use the ground rules without the underlying core values and assumptions, the ground rules become just another technique, destined to become the management fad-of-1 he-month. But with the core values and assumptions, the ground rules become a powerful, values-based approach for fundamenrally increasing group effectiveness. The Ground Rules The Skilled Facilitator Ground Rules for Effective Groups describe specific behaviors that improve a group's process.2 They provide more guidance than procedural ground rules such as "start on time and end on time" or relatively abstract ground rules such as "treat everyone with respect" or "be constructive." Ground Rules for Effective Groups Test assumptions and inferences. Share all relevant information. Use specific examples and agree on what important words mean. Explain your reasoning and intent. Focus on interests, not positions. Combine advocacy and inquiry. Jointly design next steps and ways to test disagreements. Discuss undiscussable issues. Use a decision-making rule that generates the level of commitment needed. Ground Rule One: Test Assumptions and Inferences The first ground rule is test assumptions and inferences. When you assume something, you take for granted that it is true without verifying it. When you infer something, you draw conclusions about what you do not know based on things that you do know. For example, Jim, a group leader, observes rhat Hank, although productive, has considerably more work than any other group member. To lighten Hank's wotkload, Jim begins transferring some of Hank's work to other members. One day, in a team meeting, Jim says to Hank, "Hank, your group's been working really hard and doing good work, but the analyses have been slowing your group down. I'm going ro give Donna's group the weekly sales figures to analyze. You won't need to do it." Hank replies with some sarcasm, "Thanks a lot. We bust our guts to fix others' mistakes and we end up paying for it." Jim responds, "You're not paying for it. I appreciate the hatd work your group has done, I'm giving you some slack. Now, here's how I'd like to shift the work to Donna. . ." Jim had assumed Hank would know why he was trying to lighten Hanks workload, and Hank had incorrectly inferred from Jim's statement that Jim was dissatisfied with his work. Furthermore, Jim did not test his assumption with Hank, and Hank did not test his inference with Jim; thus, neither could find out that he was incorrect. You make inferences so often and so quickly that you ate probably not aware that you are making them. When you don't test your inferences and assumptions with the people about whom you are making them, you simply act on them as if they are true. As a result, you may be basing your actions on a set of conclusions that are completely flawed. Testing inferences generates valid information that you can use to make informed choices. Before reacting to someone or making a decision based on something you assumed or inferred, determine whether it is correct. Jim could have said to Hank, "I want to lighten your workload because I think you've got too much to do. I don't want you to misinterpret the reassignments. I assume you know that I think your work is excellent. Do you know that?" If Hank did not agtee, he could have said, "Jim, when you said you were removing some of my duties, I thought that you were dissatisfied with my performance. Was I right or not?" 2 Ground Rules for Effective Groups Ground Rule Two: Share All Relevant Information This ground rule means that you share all the relevant information you have that might affect how the group solves a problem or makes a decision. Sharing relevanr information ensures that ail team members have a common base of information on which to make informed choices and generate commitment. When people make decisions and later find out that others have withheld relevant information from them, they feel that they were prevented from making an informed choice. They may then fail to follow through on the decision, may implement the decision in a haphazard or half-hearted way, or may even formally withdraw their agreemenr. Sharing relevant information means that all group members participate in the conversation. If you don't have any relevant information to share—or if you don't have an opinion—then say so, rather than remain silent and have others guess why you're quiet. Sharing relevant information includes sharing information that does not support your preferred position. Suppose that you are a member of a top management team deciding how to restructure its organization and move into a new facility. You are the head of one manufacturing process and want to maintain your position. Yet you also know that in the new facility, the different manufacturing processes can be easily merged for greater efficiency. Here, sharing all relevant information means telling the group about the increased efficiencies, even though doing so may reduce your chances of obtaining the position you want. Your feelings are also relevant information to share. For example, you might say to a co-worker, "You said that you would have the sales projections this week, and now you're saying it will take two more weeks. I'm annoyed because that will make us miss the project deadline." In difficult conversations, there is a significant gap between what you say and what you think and feel. The following example shows how group members withhold relevant information. The right column shows the conversation between Paula and Ted; the left column shows Paula's thoughts and feelings as she talks with Ted. Paula does not share with Ted all the relevant information in her left column. At the end of the conversation, Paula thinks to herself, Why didn't you use the information I gave youi" I've got to get you to understand what you've done. Yet, by withholding her concerns, she contributes to Ted's not understanding and increases her own frustration. Withholding Relevant Information Paula's Thoughts and Feelings / thought it was abysmal; I wanted to crawl under my chair at the meeting. I had three others tea me it was a waste of their time. Does he really believe it went OK, or is he just trying to put a good spin on it? Nitpicky! You couldn't answer some basic cost questions. I don't understand why you didn't emphasize the need for the project. The team won't approve a project if they can't get answers to some basic questions. I don't want to wait while this project dies on the vine. Besides, my reputation is at stake here, too. The Conversation Paula: How do you think the presentation to the senior management team went yesterday? Ted: I think it went OK, although there were some rough spots. Some of rhose execs can really get nitpicky. Paula: We've got some really important reasons for doing it. Do you think the team will support the project now, or do you think maybe we need to give th- em more answers ŕ Ted: I think we're in OK shape. A couple of the members came up to me afterward and said they appreciated the presentation. I think we should just wait and see. Paula: Maybe, but I think we might want to give them some more information. I hope the team doesn't think I'm responsible for your not having the answers to those questions. Why didn 'tyou use the information I gave you? I've got to get you to understand what you ve done. The point is not that Paula should share her thoughts and feelings exactly as they appear in the left column. To be effective, Paula would share the relevanr information (and also use the other ground rules). She could begin by saying, "Ted, I have some concerns abour rhe prescntarion you did yesterday. I'd like to give you some specific examples about what concerned me and get your reactions. OK?" Ground Ruins for Effective (Jroups 3 Ground Rule Three: Use Specific Examples and Agree on What Important Words Mean Using specific examples and agreeing on what important words mean is one way of sharing relevant information, generating valid data, and creating a com mou. understanding. When von give specific examples, you name people, places, things, and events. Unlike general statements, specific examples enable other members to determine independently whether your examples are valid. For example, if you make the general statement, "I think some of us are not doing their share of the work," other group members cannor derermine whether rhe sratement is valid. They cannot observe who "some of us" are; neirher can tbey directly observe wherher someone is "not doing their share of the work." As a result, the people that you are referring ro may incorrectly infer rhar you are nor ralking about them, and the people that you are nor referring to may incorrectly infer that you are talking about them. In contrast, if you say, "Selina and Joe, I did not receive your secrion of the report. Did you complere and send it?" Selina and Joe can validate whethet ot not they did their work. Other members can determine wherher the statement is valid by directly observing whether they teceived Selina and Joe's section. If Selina and Joe agree rhar rhey did not complete theit work, then they and the group can engage in a more productive discussion abour why this occurred and its impact on the group. You may be concerned that if you name names in the group, others may feel that you're putting them on the spot (or you may feel that way). Using the ground rules involves changing the way you think. Here, this means shifting from thinking of it as putting people on the spot to thinking of k as giving people a chance to say whether they see the situation diffetently or whether, perhaps, you are misinformed. Another way to think about specific examples is that they help people agtee on what important words mean. When team membets use the same word to mean different things, they may think they agree with each other when they don't. Suppose your group decides ro make some decisions by consensus. Bur to some members consensus means that a majority of people supporr rhe decision, while to others it means that everyone supports it. The first time your group makes a decision rhar has majority but not unanimous support, it will learn that it has not agreed on the meaning of consensus. One way to detetmme whether all group members are using a word to mean the same thing is to ask them the first time the word is used. You can say, "You used the word consensus. To me, consensus means unanimous support and not majority agteement. In practice, it means that everyone in the group can say rhat they will do whatever theit role requires to implement the decision. It doesn't mean that people have to be silent about their concerns. It does mean saying something like, 'even though I have these concerns, I suppott the decision sufficiently to implement it.' How does your definition differ from mine, if at all?" Explain Your Reasoning and Intent When you do not explain your reasoning, the people you ate talking with often provide their own explanations of your behaviot; unfortunately, their explanations may be vety different from yours. Using this ground rule means explaining to others what led you to make the comment you made, ask the question you asked, ot take the action you took. Reasoning and intent ate similar but different. Your intent is yout purpose for doing something. Your reasoning is rhe logical process rhar you use to dtaw conclusions based on data, values, and assumptions. Explaining your reasoning and intent includes making your private thinking public. It enables others to see how you reached your conclusions and to ask you about places in your reasoning where they reason differently, if you are trying to conttol the conversation and have your poinr of view triumph, fully explaining your reasoning is a problem because it enables others to point out flaws in your reasoning, which reduces the chances rhat you will prevail. However, if you are using rhe values and assumprions underlying the ground rules in order to learn, explaining your reasoning and intent provides opportunities to learn where others have different views and where you may have missed something thar orhers see. Suppose you are talking with Jack, one of your peers, who is direcring a project that will benefit your group. He says to you, "I really need one of your people dedicated to this project full-time." You are reluctant to do this because you have a deadline and need all ofyour staff to meet it. Rather rhan simply saying to Jack, "Sorry. I can'r spare anyone full-time," you might start by saying something like "I have a ptoject due next month, 4 Ground Rules for Effective Groups and I need input from all of my staff to complete it. Giving you a person full-time will make it difficult for me to get everyone's input." Focus on Interests, Not Positions Focusing on interests is anothet way of sharing relevant information.3 Interests are rhe needs and desires that people have in regard to a given situation. Solutions or posirions are rhe ways that people meet their interests. In other words, people's interests lead them to promote a particular solution or take a par ricular position. An effective way for members to solve problems is to begin by sharing their own inrerests. Unforrunarely, many groups begin by ralking about solutions or positions. For example, if the group is trying to solve the problem of when to meet, one member may start by saying, "I suggest we meet every other Monday at 7:30 A.M." Another may respond, "I think that we should meet on the second day of each month." Positions like these do not help the group identify each member's real needs and desires. Here, the petson who suggested meeting every other Monday at 7:30 A.M. was intetested in meeting early in the morning, before some important customers would call. The person who wanted to meet the second day of each month was intetested in meeting i m m cd i a l cly a í i c: ľ a fclev an t bi weck 1 v compute r repou became available. Each took a position that met his ot her Individual interests. The pioblem with solving problems by focusing first on positions is that people's positions are often in conflict, even when their interests are compatible. This happens because people tend to offer positions that meet their own interesrs but do not take into account other people's interests. In the meeting example, each member's solution was rejected because it failed to meet the other person's inrerests. Had the members discussed interests, either one may have been able to offer a solution that satisfied both. One way to think about interests is as criteria that need to be met in order solve the problem in a way that people will support. To help the gtoup focus on intetests tathet than positions, you might begin by asking each member to list the ctiteria that must be met in otdet for that member to accept a solution. To take a simple example, if a gtoup were to buy a cat, one member might be intetested in a car that can hold all six group members so that they can work together as they travel. Anothet might be interested in a car that uses fuel efficiently, while a thitd membet might be interested in a car that requires litrle maintenance. Notice that none of these interests specifies a particular make and model of car (position). If a member states a position, such as "I want to buy a Toyota Sienna," identify it as a position and then ask, "What is it about the Toyota Sienna that leads you to suggest that as a solution?" Combine Advocacy and Inquiry rombining advocacy and inquiry means expressing your poinr of view, including sharing your reasoning and intent, and then inviting others to inquire into your comments or share their own. For example, a group member might say, "I think it would help to give division heads their own budgets, so that their accountability will be commensurarc with their responsibility. Here's rhe reasoning rhar led me to suggest this. [The person rhen explains the reasoning that led him to reach his conclusion.] I'd like to heat what each of you think about this idea. What are your thoughts? What, if anything, do you see differently?" Combining advocacy and inquiry also means asking others about their reasoning when they advocate a point of view. Combining advocacy and inquiry accomplishes a couple of goals. First, it shifts a meeting from a series of unconnected monologues to a focused convetsation by explicitly inviting others to inquite and comment on yout rematks. Second, combining advocacy and inquiry creates conditions for learning. When you share your reasoning and then ask others to inquire into it, others can determine for themselves whether they agtee with your reasoning or see parts of it differently. They ate also mote likely to reciprocate by sharing their reasoning and inviting you to share your views about It. As this gtound rule implies, combining advocacy and inquiry requires that you both advocate and inquire. If you only advocate, you may not learn what others think. Other people will likely respond by advocating their point of view, which leads you to respond with more advocacy. This creates a reinforcing cycle of increasing advocacy in which each party tries harder ro convince rhe others, ultimately resulting in either a stalemate or a winner and loser—a loser who has little commitment to the decision. Howevet, if you only inquire, you do nor help others understand your reasoning and why you are asking your questions. People feel "set up" and become suspicious, or they try ro give you the answer they think G round Rules for Effective Groups 5 you want to hear. Advocacy and inquiry alone are each a way of controlling the conversation and can easily lead to defensive behavior in others. Not all inquiry is genuine. In genuine inquiry, you ask a question with the intent of learning. In rhetorical inquiry, you ash a question with the intent of implicitly conveying your point of view. For example, the question "Why don't you just try it my way and see how it works out?" is not genuine inquiry, because embedded in the question is the implicit advocacy, "just try it my way." In contrast, a genuine inquiry would be "what kinds of problems do you think might occur if you were to try it the way I'm suggesting?" Notice that in the genuine inquiry, there is no attempt to embed your own point of view in the inquiry. Suppose you are talking with a team and you are concerned that the team's plans are not responsive to changing customer demands. Rather than ease into the conversation by saying, "How do you think your new plan has worked in tetms of responding to customer needs?" you could statt by combining advocacy and inquiry: "I'd like to talk with you about your work plan. I have some concerns that yout new plan doesn't address the changing needs of our clients. Let mc give you a couple of examples of what I mean and get your reactions. [You would then use the gtound rule use specific examples' and illustrate your point.] "What arc your thoughts? What, if anything, do you see differently or do you think I've missed?" Jointly Design Next Steps and Ways to Test Disagreements Tointly designing next steps and ways to test disagreements means deciding with others what topics to discuss, when and how to discuss them, and when to switch topics, rather than making these decisions privately and unilaterally. If you use this ground rule to jointly design next steps, you might still draft an agenda, but you would explain to others what led you to include the items on the agenda and exclude others. Then you would ask, "What changes, if any, do you think we need to make to the agenda?" Group members often unilaterally control next steps when trying to keep the group discussion focused. For example, consider a group ralking about ways to increase sales to current customers. When Yvonne says, "I think we have a problem with our billing cycles," Arrhur responds, "That's a different topic for another day." Arrhur one-sidedly controls the focus of the conversation on the basis of his untested assumption that Yvonne's comment is unrelated to the currenr ropic. If Yvonne thinks her comment is on topic, she may stop participating in rhe meering and the group would not get the benefit of using her information in deciding a course of action. In addition, Yvonne may be less committed to the course of action that the group decides on. Had Arthur used the ground rule, he could have said, "Yvonne, I don't see how your point about the problem with billing cycles is related to increasing sales to current customers. Am I missing something? Can you help me understand how you see them related?" When Yvonne responds, Arthur and other group members might learn about a connection between the two topics that they had not previously seen. For example, the organization's billing cycles may create a time lag, so that salespeople do not have real-time data about their customers' inventory. If there is a connection, the group can decide whether it makes more sense ro pursue Yvonne's idea now or later. If it turns out that Yvonne's comment is not related, Arthur can ask her to place it on a future agenda. Jointly designing ways to test disagreements addresses one specific type of next step. When group members find themselves in a disagreement, each member often tries to convince the others that his or her own position is correct, engaging in an escalating cycle of advocacy. Each offers evidence to support his or her position, and the others do the same for their positions. Each may doubt the others' data, and none are likely to offer data that might weaken their own positions. In the end, the "losers" are still likely to believe that they are right. Consider a conversation in which team members disagree abour whether proposed changes to their producr will lead to increased production costs. If the team members jointly designed a way to test their disagreement, together they would develop a way to figure out whether the proposed changes would lead to increased cost and if so, how much. Designing the joint test includes agreeing on what data to collect and what processes to use in collecting it. Gtoup members decide together who to speak with, what questions to ask, what sources to use, and what statistical data to consider relevant. Whatever method you use, it is critical that the team members involved agree to it and agree to use the information that comes from it. Two important questions to ask when jointly testing d isagreemenrs are "How could ir be rhat we arc both correcr?" and "How could 6 Ground Rules for Effective Groups we each be seeing different parts of the same problem?" Often, members have different sets of facts because they are talking about different times, places, or people. By jointly resolving disagreements, members generate information that can be validated, and they are more likely to be committed to the outcome, because they helped design the test and agreed to abide by its results. : Discuss Undiscussabie Issues Undiscussabie issues are ones that are relevant to the group's task but that group members believe they cant discuss openly in the group without some negative consequences. Examples include members who are nor performing adequately and their effect on the group, members who do not trust one another, and members who are reluctant to disagree with their manager. Group members often choose not to discuss undiscussabie issues (or they discuss them outside of meetings) because they reason that raising these issues will make some group members feel embarrassed or defensive. They seek to save face for the group members and for themselves as well. In short, they sec discussing undiscussabie issues as not being very compassionate. Yet group members often overlook the negative systemic—and uncompassionate—consequences that they create by not raising undiscussabie issues. Consider three team members—Juan, Carlos, and Stan—who are concerned about the poor performance of two other team members—Lynn and Jim—and how Lynn and Jims performance affects rhe abiliry of the resr of rhe team to excel. If Juan, Carlos, and Stan don't raise this issue directly with Lynn and Jim, they will likely continue to talk about Lynn and Jim behind their backs. Lynn and Jim won't know what the others' concerns are, and so will not be able to make a free and informed choice about whethet to change their behavior. Because they are not changing their behavior, Juan, Carlos, and Stan will continue to privately complain abour them while simultaneously withholding the very information that could change the situation. Further, Juan, Carlos, and Stan will probably be blind to the way they are contributing to the problem by not sharing what Jim and Lynn do that they believe is ineffecrive. Over time, the team's overall performance, its processes, and its members' ability to meet their needs for growth and development are likely to suffer. This does not srrike me as particularly compassion are. Although rhis ground rule is emotionally more difficult to use, the process for using it is contained in all the previous ground rules. When discussing undiscussabie issues, it is important to test assumptions and inferences, share all relevanr information, use specific examples and agree on whar important words mean, share your reasoning and intent, focus on inrerests rather than positions, combine advocacy and inquiry, and jointly design next steps and ways to test disagreements. Your feelings about raising the undiscussabie issue arc relevant information. For example, you may say, "I want to raise what I think has been an undiscussabie issue in the group. I'm raising it not because I'm trying to put anyone on the spot, but because I think we can be a much more effective team if wc address this issue. I'm worried about talking about the issue because I'm concerned that I may get defensive or that others may get defensive, lfyou see me getting defensive, please tell me." Use a Decision-Making Rule That Generates the Level of Commitment Needed This ground rule makes specific the core value or internal commitment. It increases the likelihood that group members will support the decision that is made and will implement it. This ground rule is based on the premise that group members will be more committed to a decision to the extent that they make an informed free choice to support that decision. The more the group members are able to make an informed free choice, the more they are likely to be internally committed to the decision. Groups use different decision-making processes. In consultative decision making, the leader or a subgroup makes the decision for the group after discussing ideas about the issue and possible solutions with the group. In democratic decision making, the full group discusses the issue and is involved in making the decision. A decision is made when some percentage of the group (often a majority or more) agrees to a decision. In consensus decision making, everyone in the group is involved in making the decision. A decision is reached when all group members can support a decision and agree to implement it. In this definition of consensus, if one person does not suppott the decision, the group does nor yet have consensus. In delegative decision making, the leader gives rhe decision to the group or to a subgroup to make. The leader may specify conditions within which the decision must be made, such as limits on cost or Ground Ruins for Kffective Groups 7 time. In delegative decision making, the leader may or may not specify what decision-making rule to use. These decision-making processes generate different responses. Group member commitment is necessary when implementation of a decision requires the supporr and cooperation of the group members. When commitment is needed and when there are different perspectives among group members or rhe group members and the leader have differenr views, the decision-making process needs to help group members (including the leader) explore their diffetent perspectives and create a shared understanding. Consensus decision making accomplishes this by ensuring that a decision is not reached until each group membet can commit to the decision as his or her own. Ir equalizes the distribution of power in rhe group, because every member's concerns must be addressed and every member's consent is required to reach a decision. It can take more time to make a decision by consensus than by another process, but because people are internally commirtcd to the decisions, consensus decisions usually take less time to implement effectively. The ground rule does not state that all—or mosr— decisions should be made by consensus. It recognizes that some decisions do not require the internal commitment genetated through consensus and that in some situations, group members can be committed without consensus decision making. In these situations, decisionmaking processes other rhan consensus are appropriate. However, when there are different perspectives on an issue, you risk losing the commitment of some members if you don't have their consent. Putting the Ground Rules to Use You can use these ground rules even if other group members do not. Still, the ground rules are most powerful when everyone understands them, agrees on their meanings, and commits to using them. When you introduce the ground rules to a group, it is important that you do it in a manner consistent with the core values and the ground rules themselves. This means explaining how you believe the ground rules can help the group, giving specific examples of times when you and others might have used a ground rule to improve the group. Ir also means inviting others to share their views, including questions and concerns they have about using the ground rules. Above all, group members need to make a free and informed choice to use the ground rules. The ground rules are not the group's ground rules until all members have agreed to use them. People often ask me whether they can use a subset of the gtound rules. Each of the nine ground rules helps the group in a different way, and together they support each other; removing one ground rule reduces your abUity to use the power of the set. Still, it is more effective to use some ground rules than none. Try not to use your past expetience with a group to decide whether the ground rules can work in that group. Because behavior is inrcractive and systemic, if you have acted in ways that are inconsistent with the ground rules, you may have contributed to others reacting ineffectively and atttibuted their ineffective behaviors solely to them, without recognizing that you contributed to those behaviors. If this has happened, your data about the group is flawed. For example, if you think that group members respond defensively, you may unwittingly be acting in ways that conttibute to their defensivcness—for example, by making assumprions about them without testing them or by advocating without inquiring. Your group will more quickly increase its skill and effectiveness if it consistently uses these ground rules. To remind members of the ground rules, it helps to place a poster of the ground rules in the group meeting space and provide each member with a pocket-sized gtound rules card (both of these are available from Roger Schwarz & Associates). Using the ground rules yields many benefits. Used together, the ground rules will be powerful in helping your group increase the quality of their decisions and commitment to implementing the decisions, decrease implementation time, improve working relationships, and improve group member satisfaction. 1 The first three core values are from Chris Argyris and Don Schön's book Theory in Practice (1974). -In general, the ground rules are based on the work of Chris Argyris and Don Schön. 'This ground rule is from Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Brace Patron's book Getting to Yes (1991). © 2002 Roger Schwan & Associates, Inc. la order more copies of this publication please contact: —„ Roger Schwatz & Associates, Inc. ___^ 600 Market Street, Suite 207 ^ -^ Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27516 tel: 919.932.3343 • tax: 919.932.3346 info@s chwarzassociaics.co m www.sch warzassoci ates. co m 8 Ground Rules for Effective Groups Additional information about using the Ground Rules for Effective Groups can be found in: The Skilled Facilitator: A Comprehensive Resource for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers, and Coaches, New and Revised Edition (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass 2002). :M 1L1TATOR The Skilled Facilitator Fieldbook: Tips, Tools, and Tested Methods for Consultants, Facilitators, Managers, Trainers, and Coaches (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass 2005) ířiFuMiAMrNTAi Chanel" voiUMi i. MU* ■ IS I1I!S1SSI:1- Fundamental Change. Our free monthly electronic newsletter. (Roger Schwarz, Ph.D. Copyright © Roger Schwarz & Associates. 2005) Ufa-* (nr-md FokĹOAtil LliKi M ufcdfc ■TV tfJM tafeatt fM***L Iff^S- i"H-i:hi ■É i-Al> Tit Vi* T**feta}^* i U*u) RMMpt r_ Roger Schwarz & Associates, inc.