The role of meeting management in group decision-making: lessons learnt from UK fostering and adoption panels

ABSTRACT Today, most social care decisions in the UK are made by groups of professionals, often known as panels. Given the importance of these decisions, which often determine the future of children and adults, it is important that they produce optimal outcomes for all concerned. This article investigates the impact of the management of these meetings in achieving the best possible outcomes. In particular, it sets out to understand in greater depth how psychoanalytic factors impact on individual and group thinking, and seeks to identify aspects of meeting management, such as effective chairing, which could minimise the impact of these factors. To achieve this, the operation of adoption and fostering panels in the UK was observed, and the data analysed to determine the factors which most affect panel performance. The study identified four themes of meeting management relevant to social care, and other, meetings, that could improve decision making. These themes are task focus, structure and organisation, professionalism and scrutiny.