In the book, The Essential Guide to Group Communication it discusses ways to help avoid time pressures in group work. The overall planning and leadership styles of a group are effected by how much time they get to work together.
It is important that groups can communicate in any given time frame. The book gives an example of a group having to complete a task in 5 minutes and the loudest person took lead and gave direction to the group, but when the group was given unlimited time they were able to all have an opinion and complete the task successfully and better in only twelve minutes.
There are a few ways groups can manage their time. Groups could take a poll, a leader can make time limits on each members time, and lastly the group could make no decisions at all. For a group to work well together it is best that back up questions are asked to all ideas brought up by each member. Groups should use the consensus method allowing a fair chance to all ideas.
Hi Ruby. I learned a lot from this post. I read over this part in the book, The Essential Guide to Group Communication and I am happy you explored this idea further; it is an interesting part of the text! Some people really thrive with group work; it is an excellent way for them to execute their superior teamwork skills. On the other hand, some people find group work limiting and stressful, because they enjoy being able to complete work to their standard, within their own time limit. This post does a good job of explaining how to avoid time pressures in group work. I totally agree with your statement about how within a limited time period, the "loudest" person tends to take control and lead the group. Good job!
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