Stages of group decision-making[edit]
According to B. Aubrey Fisher, there are four stages or phases that should be involved in all group decision-making:[16]
Orientation. Members meet for the first time and start to get to know each other.
Conflict. Once group members become familiar with each other, disputes, little fights and arguments occur. Group members eventually work it out.
Emergence. The group begins to clear up vague opinions by talking about them.
Reinforcement. Members finally make a decision and provide justification for it.
It is said that establishing critical norms in a group improves the quality of decisions, while the majority of opinions (called consensus norms) do not.[17]