Com 223 Group 3 3/27/14 Reflection 2 Our teams process for making and implementing group decisions strongly

embodies Alex F. Osborns brainstorming concept. The Fundamentals of Small Group Communication by Scott A. Myers and Carolyn M. Anderson; defines brainstorming as a procedure that allows groups to generate more ideas or solutions to problems than individuals might generate working alone, in part because innovation usually involves more than one person . We can attest to this fact based upon our own group experience. More specifically we used brainstorming early on in the group deciding process. This methods works best for us and by its open ended approach helps us to avoid group conflict thus far. Our project is progressing towards a strong and solid finish. The nonintrusive brainstorming process seemed to fit our group from the very beginning over any other group deciding procedure. No one person controls the group but, rather ideas are welcomed, problems are handled collectively; solutions are all talked out ending in a fair decision agreed upon by all. By using the brainstorming method we can bring up many different ideas and solutions as a group. During the evaluation stage we narrowed down our ideas according to the requirements of the projects, as a team. Using brainstorming as the chosen method of selection for group interactions seemed to happen naturally for our group. The brainstorming approach allows our group to stay on task while requiring us all to input our own thoughts. The technique helps us to generate suggestions and allows a platform so we can incorporate our different ideas. During the evaluation phase, we create action plans for those ideas, strategize for any conflicts, and plan solutions accordingly. For example, we can apply our chosen approach to the organization selection task. As a group we were all able to voice our opinion on choosing an organization to work with. We took turns going around mentioning organizations we felt would work best with our individual skill sets. After each of us provided our input on our preferred organization, we began the evaluation process of brainstorming. We each took a turn suggesting and narrowed our selection down. After weighing the pros and cons of each suggestion as a group through group evaluation, we ultimately unanimously agreed upon the Boys and Girls Club of Bloomington. We feel that our style of decision making best fits within the four rules of brainstorming. According to Brainstorming and Beyond: A User-Centered Design Method by Chauncey Wilson; it states that four basic rules must be followed in order for brainstorming to be effective. You must have a group of 3 to 10 members with different backgrounds. We meet the minimum 3 to 10 participants by our group consisting of seven members. The second rule required us to pose a clear problem, question or topic. Our topic or issue was to generate ideas for the organization. The third step in the procedure states the group must generate solutions or ideas with no criticism or attempts to limit and number of ideas. We displayed a turn by turn open forum to present our suggestions. According to the text, during this process we could have used a flipchart instead of using verbal list only. We will incorporate a flip chart in future decisions. Lastly, we were to

discuss, critique, and prioritize the brainstorming results. We displayed the necessary qualities of this requirement by using our skills and interest to pick and organization that we all agreed upon. Our group will continue to use brainstorming for future group decisions throughout this project, since we were able to reach a group consensus pretty easily. We feel true group consensus was achieved because everyones different idea was heard yet we still all able to vote on The Boys and Girls Club unanimously. The groups overall mission is to a benefit a non for profit using our most effective strengths. We feel by using the brainstorming technique, we are headed towards success. As of today we have been effectively giving back, completing the assignment; all while utilizing our I.T. skills. Works Cited: Myers, Scott A., and Carolyn M. Anderson: The Fundamentals of Small Group Communication. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, n.d. Print. Wilson, Chauncey. Brainstorming and Beyond: A User-Centered Design Method. Burlington:

Elsevier Science, 2013. Print.