Handbook of Principles of Organizational Behavior - Soltanieh ...

310 GERARDO A. OKHUYSEN AND BETH A. BECHKY
especially ones facing difficult choices in situations of high uncertainty (see Chapter 18 ,
this volume). Timing and speed matter too. A decision made too late can cost money or
leave an organization hopelessly behind the competition, leading to its failure. Group
members also need to be able to work together in an ongoing way to complete their work.
In our view, superior group process involves solving the classic tradeoffs of group pro cess,
not making them. That is, great group process is fast and responsive, with members acting
under pressure. It is also conflictual and respectful, with group members who can
disagree with one another and yet can walk away from meetings with mutual deference
and the will to work together in the future. Importantly, not all groups adopt the same
tactics to achieve great group process. Instead, groups adopt approaches that are ideally
suited to their own circumstances.
In this chapter, we describe three principles that help create great group process. These
are: creating collective intuition, stimulating task - related conflict, and driving the pace of
action. We argue that each of these antecedents consists of a cluster of tactics that shape
group process. These tactics are interrelated such that they work with one another, supporting
each other and offering synergies in group process. We also describe the pivotal
role of the leader in shaping the group process that emerges.
BUILDING COLLECTIVE INTUITION
One of the myths of group process is that relying on extensive information is a problem.
The argument goes like this: the cost of gathering information is very high, and large
amounts of information are often ignored anyway due to the excessive demands on the
time of group members (March and Simon, 1958 ; Simon, 1955 ). Therefore, it is not particularly
useful to gather large amounts of information. In addition, since the perception
and interpretation of information is fraught with personal and social biases, information
must be treated with suspicion. As a consequence, group members should move ahead
without spending too much time worrying about having all of the relevant information.
In contrast, recent research takes a different view (Dean and Sharfman, 1996 ;
Eisenhardt and Bourgeois, 1988 ; Wally and Baum, 1994 ). Groups with great process
rely on more, not less, information than less effective groups. The difference is in the
kind of information that they use. Ineffective groups rely on either historical information
about past performance or speculative information about how the world might unfold
(Eisenhardt, 1989 ). In contrast, groups with superior process center their attention on
real - time and fact - based information about current operations.
Gathering information: exploiting expertise and profiting from variety
For many groups, the involvement of individuals in the front lines of the action is critical
to gather information. In film crews, individuals in every department are responsible for
bringing potential problems to everyone else ’ s attention (Bechky, 2006 ). Diffi culties staffi ng
a shooting crew, the absence of equipment, and the late arrival of actors or actresses are
all communicated to those affected, providing critical and timely information on the performance
of the crew. This intensity of information gathering is also evident in police crisis
teams, with officers trying to understand “ what ’ s happening ” in a moment - by - moment
manner (Okhuysen, 2005 ). Each officer on the team plays an important role in gathering