You know what they say about people with large groups...

[Catarang]

I've got a conundrum.

My D&d group is made up of my general friend circle, and because of this the group regularly has 6-8 people in the group at any given time. While this leads to great fun most of the time, it also bogs down fights, conversations (inter-party or otherwise) and just game-play in general. Characters go under-developed, almost nothing gets done, and people are equally likely to be looking at some device or another as being included in whats going on with the DM. I'm a veteran of the game, but have no advice to give my slightly green DM on this subject.

Thus I turn to you guys. Without kicking out any people or something along those lines, what could we do to include more of the people we have, and develop their characters?

[jaydubs]

A few random suggestions that may or may not work with your group:

1) Let the players roll the dice for enemies. It keeps people involved even when it's not their turn.
2) Set up a time limit for making decisions on your turn. Get a 20-30 second hourglass and flip it at the beginning of a turn, they have until then to decide, or the turn is skipped. This doesn't include time to roll saves, figure out stuff, etc., just to make that "I'm going to attack/cast this spell/use this item/etc." decision.
3) If you're doing skill based challenges, set it up so there is usually someone aiding. Now 2 players are involved instead of 1.
4) Sometimes it may help to split the group up, though of course it depends on the execution. If you can find a secondary DM to take over half the group every once in awhile, both groups can be run at the same time.

[Dalebert]

Consider letting someone play the monsters on a regular basis. It will help the new DM a lot and move combat along. It could be fun getting to play something different every week. It can make the fights more challenging when someone is playing to win, so to speak.

[JusticeZero]

Someone already said the "don't let people ask questions and ruminate on their turn". That one is CRITICAL. Another thing to so is to farm out some of the busiwork to players. We had one player keeping records and tracking events in one game, for instance, and another player had the rulebooks on hand to answer rules questions. A third thing is to split the party. Not for combats and the like, of course, but stir up scenes between Joe Rogue, Grace the Holy, and Roary the Barbarian where they're talking in character among themselves while you adjudicate Mxtlplxt the Seer's investigation and itemcrafting.