Group Improvement

Creating Effective Teams: a Guide for Members and Leaders is a book by Wheelan (2013) designed to do as the title states; guiding members and leaders to create effective teams. Wheelan (2013) begins the book by highlighting the reasons that groups are important. Wheelan (2013) states that throughout history, “Groups have played a major role in both the survival of human beings and the development of human culture” (p. 1). The majority of the book is based on 4 stages that create a group of individuals into an effective team. The first stage is called dependency and inclusion. According to Wheelan (2013), the first stage of the group is

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,

In order to be effective the group purpose must be cohesive and cooperative (Scott, “Group Dynamics”, 2016). When members cooperate performance and productivity are likely to be higher than if members focus on individual rather than collective goals (Scott, “Group Dynamics”, 2016). Achieving a cooperative group purpose is only feasible if group members are able to adequately communicate ideas and emotions, therefore, two-way communication is necessary in effective groups (Scott, “Group Dynamics”, 2016). Effective groups are able to constructively solve conflicts and problems as they arise (Scott, “Group Dynamics”, 2016). Conflicts are not always negative, they should be encouraged when they add to group involvement, quality, and creativity (Scott, “Group Dynamics”, 2016). Participation, leadership, power, and influence should be evenly distributed (Scott, “Group Dynamics”, 2016). Finally, members need to have interpersonal effectiveness by being able to address what is wanted and identify what is needed in order to obtain desired results (Scott, “Group Dynamics”, 2016; Toseland & Rivas,

A useful theory to explain our processes and development as a group is Tuckman’s theory of group working which explains the stages that a group will progress through in order to achieve an objective, including the Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning stages (Mindtools, 2016). The forming stage was pre-established for our group because we had been allocated together prior to the task and we had already managed to build relationships with one another. It was at the storming stage we began to establish our roles within the group and allocate tasks for

During the video, Group Work: Leading in the here and now, Part II: Transition and flight (Association for Specialists in Group Work (n.d.), there were several interactions that caused me to take notice. Furthermore, they were indications that the group had reached a transitionary stage. Corey, Corey, and Corey (2010) stated that, “this is a time in the group in which both members and leaders are learning about each other’s capacity and style for change,” (p. 181). Multiple times during the presentation, exchanges were demonstrated between group members that identified their willingness to confront, become vulnerable, as well as offer signs of resistance to what was happening within the group.

The organization has five stages of group development. In the forming stage they have identified that there is a

The assessment of a high performing team has come to pass and acknowledged. The leadership responsibility develops progressively into work that is conducted remotely, traditional company boundaries are becoming more permeable and collaborations are essential. Developing a team remains as challenge. Enthusiastic, striving, and proficient individuals are always an advantage, but they often signify different purposes, products, and can compete for influence, resources, and advancement. Katzenbach and Smith identify three types of teams. These teams consist of task forces or project groups. Slide 10-3 illustrates their components and functions. Katzenbach and Smith use a triangle to categorize the basics of teams: performance results, personal growth, and collective work. The outer perimeter focuses on skills, accountability and commitment (Barrett, D., 2014). Substantial performance encounters motivate teams unrelatedly of where they are in an organization. However, teams cannot arise s without a routine challenges that is significant to those engaged. Teams that work towards the goals and objectives of a project will encounter different undertakings as part of the action process. To improve communication and involvement, teams use methods that are intended to inspire teamwork, such as outcome-oriented meetings and regular clusters. Teams correspondingly analyze data to make guarantee improvement exertions

There are many reasons individuals are grouped to share in a common purpose. These can be informal and short in duration, or formal relationships that may span a lifetime. The attitudes and actions of individuals toward one another have an impact on the relationships and performance when they are interacting. Observing the interactions for things such as; participation, decision making ability, managing conflict, and leadership are part of group process. Developing strategies for effectively working together to overcome challenges in problem solving, allows members to function at their best, as an individual, and places the highest potential for the group to succeed. The Applied Organizational Leadership (AOL) group #248, has begun a journey of discovery for new knowledge that will highlight their current level of ability as well as explore developmental opportunities within each member for successful working in group.

A group engages in certain processes that naturally occur when a set of individuals are working together. In the Orientation phase, the needs of group members are to be oriented to the task, that is, to define the task, specify issues, identify expectations, and explore the nature of the work. From this, members develop a common understanding of the group's purpose. In the Testing and Dependency phase, participants generally act as if they depend on the leader to provide all the structure. They look to the leader to set the ground rules, establish the agenda, to do all the "leading," while the group members acclimate themselves to the setting. Group members exhibit behavior to test what behavior is acceptable and what is not, and begin to establish boundaries, to consider themselves as individuals in relation to the group, and to define the function of the group and the leader. This phase generally concludes when there is general agreement that the goals are achievable and that change is possible--whether it be changing behavior, making a decision, or solving a problem. Organizing to get work done involves a number of group decisions. These include establishing work rules, determining limits, defining the reward system, setting the criteria for the task, dividing the work and assigning individual responsibility for particular tasks. As it relates to

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.

Self-improvement tools are helpful and often only save time in the long run. It is often overlooked because it is time consuming and seems extraneous. To run a business sometimes takes meticulous skills, therefore making it important to always work to improve the talents one already possesses. Along with honing in one’s current talents, one they should learn new ones as well; to further their knowledge in the workspace. Having a tenacious trait to want to become a better person is exactly what one needs when working with a group. Often one may find themselves working with various people in the group on specific tasks. Keeping everyone on the project involved and informed can be difficult. Staying organized is crucial in group projects for the highest amount of productivity. Time management is a key point to staying organized, especially in a group where it can be easy to get off subject in a discussion.

Tuckman proposes that groups develop via five stages; forming, storming, norming, performing and finally adjourning (Archee, Gurney, & Mohan, 2013a). The first stage, known as forming, involves clarifying the task and purpose of the group, and identifying boundaries of both the task and interpersonal behaviour (Archee et al., 2013a). For the presentation task we were randomly allocated into groups. This worried me greatly as I have struggled in the past with group members who do not contribute equally or see the task as important as other group members. To avoid this problem, the group collectively determined and agreed upon a number of ground rules. For example, we decided that all group members were expected to contribute equally to the presentation, all group members were expected to attend and contribute at all group meetings, and all group members would adhere to agreed upon deadlines. Having failed to do this in previous group assignments, this clarification stage

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.

I used to believe that I did not perform very well in groups. I am an observer who likes to learn alone. I thought I learned best when I worked on my own. Even though I always knew group work had many positive values, I was more comfortable with the lecture-based approach and resisted group work merely because it involved change, not because it had a collaborative learning approach. However, during the learning community project, I came to realize that I learn more effectively when I work in groups. Working in a group was like an adventure for me; there were both exciting and challenging times while preparing for the learning community project.

The initial formation of the group is called the forming stage where a number of individuals are brought together to identify the purpose of the group. Most team members are positive and polite and some are anxious as they did not understand fully what work the team will do. Since team members’ roles and responsibilites aren not clear, leadership plays a dominant role at this stage.