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ATTACHMENT 3 IN THIS ARTICLE Group Process Facilitation Ground Rules for Groups BY ROGER M. SCHWARZ Groups can be more effective if they identify and stick to some ground rules. Here is a list of guidelines to keep teams on track. y can some groups pull together, tackle difficult tasks, and solve problems, while other groups can't? Even when a group has the necessary skills and is highly motivated, it can be ineffective. One key is ground rules. Suc- cessful groups tend to have either explicit or implicit rules that guide their behavior. When groups follow ground rules, they're better able to communicate effectively, resolve conflicts, solve problems, and make decisions by consensus. Ground rules aren't panaceas. They don't eliminate the struggles of group development, reduce the risks associated with openness, or over- come a lack of trust. Ground rules don't ensure that everyone in a group. will agree, but they can make conflicts more constructive. Ground rules are easy to under- stand but difficult to implement. To use them effectively, a group must practice them regularly. The values Most ground rules are based on three values identified by Chris Argyris and Don Schon in their book Theory in Practice: Increasing Professional Effectiveness. The values are valid information, free and informed choice, and internal com- mitment. To complete tasks and solve prob- lems, a group must have relevant information that all members share in ways that enable each person to determine the information's validity. Free and informed choice requires that group members make choices based on valid information and are able to formulate their own objec- tives, as well as the methods for achieving them. Internal commitiimeht rneans }that each member feels personally responsible for group decisions. Everyone is committed to the deci- sions because everyone believes in the decisions, not because of rewards or penalties. The three values reinforce each other. Group members require valid information to make informed choices. When they make free and informed choices, they're more likely to be internally committed. When they're internally committed, they're more likely to monitor decisions to see that they're implemented effec- tively. As a result of that process, group members are motivated to seek more valid information. The ground rules Here are some ground rules to help groups become more effective. Several of the rules are based on the work of Chris Argyris, Don Schon, Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Cortland Cammann. These rules are most appropriate for groups in which everyone must support a decision in order for it to be implemented effectively. Test assumptions and inferences. When you assume something, you consider it to be true, without verify- ing it. When you infer something, you draw conclusions about things you don't know, based on things you do know. For example, suppose that a group's chairperson, Bob, observes that Hank has more work than other group members. To lighten Hank's work load, Bob transfers some of Hank's assignments to other mem- bers. One day when Bob tells Hank he won't have to prepare a certain report, Hank asks, "Is there anything else I'm doing that you don't like ?" Bob assumed that Hank would