THE IMPACT OF BRAINSTORMING TECHNIQUES ON SUBSEQUENT GROUP PROCESSES - BEYOND GENERATING IDEAS

Previous research on brainstorming and nominal group techniques has fo cused primarily on their ability to generate ideas without examining t he impact of these procedures on actual group decision making. This ex perimental study found no difference in the decision quality of untrai ned, brainstorming, and nominal groups. However brainstorming and nomi nal group members were more satisfied felt their groups used a more ef fective process, and felt they communicated more effectively than untr ained groups. Such results suggest that the impact of these techniques goes beyond their ability to generate ideas by affecting group proces s and communication in positive ways.