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= Avoidance strategies = Several strategies can be employed to reduce group focus on discussing shared information:


 * Make effort to spend more time actively discussing collective decisions. Given that group members tend to discuss shared information first, longer meetings increase likelihood of reviewing unshared information as well.
 * Make effort to avoid generalized discussions by increasing the diversity of opinions within the group (Smith, 2008).
 * Introduce the discussion of a new topic to avoid returning to previously discussed items among members (Reimer, Reimer, & Hinsz, 2010).
 * Avoid time pressure or time constraints that motivate group members to discuss less information (Kelly & Karau, 1999; Bowman & Wittenbaum, 2012).
 * Clarify to group members when certain individuals have relevant expertise (Stewart & Stasser, 1995).
 * Include more group members who have task-relevant experience (Wittenbaum, 1998).
 * Technology (e.g., group decision support systems, GDSS) can also offer group members a way to catalog information that must be discussed. These technological tools (e.g., search engines, databases, computer programs that estimate risk) help facilitate communication between members while structuralizing the group's decision-making process (Hollingshead, 2001).