Collaboration in My Home Group

Group communication follows slightly different ‘rules’ to communication in one-to-one situations. There is often more going on in a group, with a number of different people trying to speak, get their point across and their voice heard. Turn-taking can be more complicated; relationships and power issues between group members can also be more complex than in one-to-one contexts. As a communication context, groups can have a number of benefits for participants: • a group can be an effective way of sharing responsibilities • groups can improve decision-making and problem-solving because they draw on the knowledge and skills of a number of

Whether groups are formed for social or task oriented purposes, the ability to produce and maintain a sense of affiliation, peer support and collaboration is important for overall group functioning. The cohesion of a social group is produced through the establishment of a set of group norms, which are later defined as a guide for conduct accepted within a group of individuals. However, in order for a group to perform and produce results, the team leader should guide his/her team through the proper stages of group development, which includes the following steps: forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Although teams should follow all these stages of group development, the forming and the norming stages are the most important,

One of the group norms that had already been established through cohesiveness was the group’s respect for each other. When a member is speaking, they let the member finish without being interrupted. This showed respect for each other’s opinions. Each time a member spoke, they were brief and to the point. In return, members of the group would agree, agree to disagree, and in some cases built on each other’s ideas. Weatherhead

In this regard, the most influential aspects that spoke to me were to remain diligent in establishing ground rules for behavior or setting norms, and designating and clarifying roles for each group member. These ideals are not new and have also been encouraged in a wide variety of other educational texts which promote methods for using collaborative groups in the workplace. Robert Garmston tells readers that the typical roles in a group are the engaged participant, the facilitator, the recorder, the role authority, and citizen facilitator. He goes on to suggest the rotation of facilitator and recorder roles (Garmston, 2012), thus helping every participant to feel as if they have a voice and is able to

Group norms are the rules or guidelines that are established by a team which shape the work and interaction of each team member within the organisation and external to the group. Team norms can be developed early in team meetings or evolve over time and norms can added as and when the team deem it necessary for additional guidelines; teams will often find it more effective to start with an intial set of norms to review and modify or create extra norms over time. Once the team norms have been developed they can be used as a guide for team behaviour, this means that teams can assess how theirs or others behaviour is impacting the success of the team; if the team establishes norms which are appropriate for their team it can benefit their team discipline. As the rules of the team are established so are the boundaries, the team members can be aware of what is expected of them as a apart of the team and the agreement also identifies that each individual has been accepting of the guidelines so there is no excuses as

GROUP COLLABORATION THESIS Most everyone knows how to work in a team but, not everyone comes from the same background or holds the same set of moral and ethical standards. Each person in a group has his or her own ideas about everything. When working in a group it seems that it is easy for a person to get lost in his or hers own task and forget about the group aspect of the project at hand. The article "Help Your Team Agree on how they'll Collaborate" gives the reader a solution to the group issue. The tool or advice that she gives is let the group agree on what the rules of conduct should be to help blend the group, thus making a smoother operating group with less conflict. The rules of conduct help the group know

Implementing norms in group settings can be extremely difficult. A Norm is a guideline or an expectation for behavior (Karten,2003). Since norms can constantly change, those in a team dynamic should decide when those norms have been violated. Many norms form and operate without team members being consciously aware of it. Team members naturally want to put their best foot forward and have their behavior reflect a positive image. Although many positive behaviors can happen naturally, a team can decide to intentionally set up a list of norms for every member to follow. In addition to the long-term benefits establishing guidelines offers, the act of setting norms itself can be a team-building activity which unites its members.

Teams can create norms through discussions among team members. Regularly, during the forming phase of team development, members will have brainstorming about standards of behavior for the members, therefore, teams can identify and develop norms that support their collaboration and productivity.

It is important that members of a group be knowledgeable and skillful in their positions, the degree to which those members can work harmoniously and cooperatively

Collaboration Process: Before this year I had no idea that there was more than one skill to collaboration at all. I was fresh off of learning what collaboration was when I was introduced to the skills that made it up. However, as the year went on I learned what the skills in collaboration were, how it is important to leadership and to master it. Collaboration is made up of Decision-Making and goal setting. What I learned about this skill is that Decision-making is very important to collaboration because collaboration depends on people working together. Working together means that people have to know how to make a decision in a group. I also learned that goal setting helps the group who is collaborating have a vision that guides the group for

Although much of my work is done independently; I do have the pleasure of collaborating with the Office Manager and Physicians on a daily basis. My interacts with them are well welcomed and extremely pleasant. It is my belief that collaborating within a team increases work performance and ensure that information is appropriately distributed; as I am the liaison for the allergy clinic. These collaborations help ensure that goals are completed in a timely and efficient manner.

When doing so the other group members were active listener, by using their whole body verbally and nonverbal. Like facing the speaker and giving eye contact and try to avoided interruption. The group also acknowledges the thoughts of the speaker by giving constructive feed back. Due to the effectiveness of the group communication, we were able to build trust, respect and understand the issues and make decision for effective change. We illustrate this by coming together as a group one again to accomplish the goal we initially wanted to accomplish. Since the first organization that we had chosen was incorrect, so we had to make the necessary changes to accomplish our goals. The other effective feature is the purpose of the group. Kozier et al (2010) stated that the effective group purpose is when “goal, task, and outcomes are clarified. Understanding and modified so that members of the group can commit themselves to purposes through cooperation” (p.401). For instance, each individual was assign a task and knew what was to be accomplished. As group we all decided to meet at suitable day and time which was beneficial to all team members, because we could commit to the group and focus on what needed to be achieved.

Tasked with a group project is not limited to the classroom setting, but also to the professional world. The key to a successful group project is often collaboration and there are a few steps that if followed can make a project successful. This supply chain group suffered through many different issues from the very start.

Working in a group can be very difficult at times. Different people with different views may not always agree which one another. Throughout the various task I played the communicator. I made sure everyone was on track on what we wanted to do. I also made sure people was okay and happy in the role they was playing in the group. My group worked together in collecting ideas from one another and making it into one.

Norms seem to predominantly represent the flow of communication and behavior within this group. The course text describes norms as “informal rules” or “unstated expectations” (Galanes & Adams, 2013, p. 162). Within this department, there are various unspoken rules that are respected by each member of the group. Some norms are influenced by common sense. For example, if there is a misunderstanding about a request that was made or an unintended mistake. Nobody is yelled at or punished it in an embarrassing or demeaning way. Honestly is also expected from each member of the group. In fact, there is a weekly team meeting where each member is encouraged to discuss any issues they are having. It is a meeting where the norm is that whatever is spoken in the room, stays in the room.