Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making

We put ourselves into groups last week for my Communication Theory class to create a commercial as well as learn about the four functions of the Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making Theory.

The first thing we did was analyze the problem. We stated the problem was thinking of a new reality television show and trying to avoid reality shows that had been done before. We had 25 minutes to come up with an idea and form a commercial to demonstrate to the rest of the class.

We then formed a goal (the second function for this theory) of coming up with an original television show along with an exciting commercial.

After we found our goal, we needed to form alternatives which meant brainstorming (the third function of the theory). We came up with two ideas. I suggested an idea to have a television series with the real drama behind dorm life. Many television shows have documented high school life on the beach as well as roommates living together, but I've never seen a show with college students. I shared with the group that my dorm was very small freshman year and everyone knew everyone as well as every one's secrets. The second idea was made by another girl in the group who suggested to do a "behind the scenes" show on the reality television shows to see if the shows were real or directed. With this series, a new reality show would be observed every week. A third member came up with another idea, but it was a little too out there that we decided it would be too much and may not attract as many viewers (a wild idea).
Going back to our original two ideas, we had to make our final decision. A group member stated that she liked my idea, but because there had been several similar shows, that it may not be the best idea. She also said that even though we found find dorm life interesting, being college students, that other viewers may not. I backed up the fact that teenagers are the targeted area for Laguna Beach and Real World, but agreed that the other idea was more original. This part of our group assignment showed the members of the group promoting positive criticism after combining every one's ideas.

We then continued brain storming for the commercial. Everyone had at least one line and a part in the commercial. We also pointed out positive and negative characteristics about the commercial. One girl commented she had only three words so we volunteered all of the other four positions to her. The narrator of the scene wrote out a script while the director and film director decided their lines while the other pretend actress and I decided how we were going to preform. Each little group shared their parts with the rest of the group and we were able to share our ideas as well as some ideas. This was the final step of the theory.

Through this project, we were able to be promote (a role of communication in the theory) by coming up with ideas and a script for the presentation. However, there were times that were disruptive and we spent too much time talking about our favorite reality shows. Although this had a little to do with the project, it was not helping with coming up for a new show idea or a commercial. When we got off track, someone would always say, "Let's run through the commercial again," for the counteractive role.

I agree with this theory. When in a group assignment, I found myself following all of the functions of the theory, but not in the same order. According to Hirokawa and Gouran, the order is not necessary so I agree with this theory. It's interesting how every day life is created into a theory.