BAS Group Dynamics and Facilitation 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A supervisor facilitating group supervision observes that staff consistently agree with each other to avoid conflict, even when plans have obvious flaws. This pattern most closely resembles:
- Productive consensus building
- Groupthink (Correct answer)
- Collaborative decision-making
- Norming stage cohesion
Correct answer: Groupthink
Groupthink occurs when the desire for harmony overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives, leading to poor decisions unchallenged by the group.
Question 2: Which of the following is the most appropriate role for a BAS supervisor acting as a group facilitator?
- Advocate strongly for their preferred solution to guide the group
- Remain neutral, manage process, and help the group achieve its goals (Correct answer)
- Evaluate each member's performance during the meeting
- Limit discussion to only the most experienced staff members
Correct answer: Remain neutral, manage process, and help the group achieve its goals
A facilitator's role is to manage group process neutrally without advocating for outcomes, enabling the group to reach its own effective decisions.
Question 3: During a team meeting, a staff member makes an inaccurate claim about a client's behavior. The supervisor should:
- Ignore the error to maintain group harmony
- Publicly embarrass the staff member to deter future errors
- Gently redirect with accurate information and use it as a teaching moment (Correct answer)
- End the meeting and address it privately only via email
Correct answer: Gently redirect with accurate information and use it as a teaching moment
Supervisors should address inaccuracies respectfully and use them as group learning opportunities while maintaining psychological safety.
Question 4: Which stage of Tuckman's group development model is characterized by increased cohesion, established norms, and productive collaboration?
- Forming
- Storming
- Norming (Correct answer)
- Adjourning
Correct answer: Norming
During the norming stage, the group establishes shared norms and roles, and members develop trust and cohesion that enables productive work.
Question 5: A supervisor uses anonymous written submissions before a group meeting to collect independent opinions on a complex clinical decision. This technique is known as:
- Nominal group technique
- Delphi method (Correct answer)
- Brainwriting
- Fishbowl discussion
Correct answer: Delphi method
The Delphi method collects anonymous expert opinions through iterative rounds, reducing social influence and anchoring bias in group decisions.
Question 6: When a supervisor observes that a group is stuck in the storming stage, the most effective intervention is to:
- Dismiss the group and restructure it entirely
- Clarify roles, establish clear group norms, and facilitate open discussion of conflicts (Correct answer)
- Appoint the most dominant member as group leader
- Reduce supervision frequency until tensions naturally resolve
Correct answer: Clarify roles, establish clear group norms, and facilitate open discussion of conflicts
Helping the group move through storming requires clarifying structure and norms while creating a safe space to address interpersonal conflicts directly.
Question 7: A BAS supervisor is leading a multidisciplinary team meeting. One team member from a different discipline repeatedly challenges behavior analytic recommendations. The supervisor should:
- Assert behavior analytic authority and override the objections
- Dismiss the team member's perspective as outside their scope
- Explore the objection openly, acknowledge the perspective, and seek evidence-based resolution (Correct answer)
- Avoid inviting the team member to future meetings
Correct answer: Explore the objection openly, acknowledge the perspective, and seek evidence-based resolution
Effective interdisciplinary facilitation requires exploring disagreements openly and resolving them through evidence and shared goals rather than hierarchical authority.
BAS Group Dynamics and Facilitation 3
A supervisor facilitating group supervision observes that staff consistently agree with each other to avoid conflict, even when plans have obvious flaws.
This pattern most closely resembles: