Achieving Synergy In Small Groups

991 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The importance of group work

Synergy comes from the Greek word sunergos which means “working together” (Morris, 1981). Synergy results from two or more people working together, sharing ideas with open minds and mutual respect, and managing conflict in ways that empower all members. This is the advantage of working in a group: the whole group is greater than the sum of its parts. (Harris and Sherblom, 2005, p.11) Synergy consists of two aspects: problem solving and interpersonal relations. (Adult Learners Guide, p.13) An in-class exercise served to illustrate the concept of synergy and how sharing other peoples ideas and working together produces better ideas to those of any one group member working alone. The cohort participated in a desert survival simulation, in this simulation the cohort was divided into two groups. Each group was given the same scenario. The scenario involves the two groups being in a plane that has crashed in the desert. My group was asked to determine what we thought our ultimate goal was? Were we going to hike out or stay with the wreckage? Then once that determination was made, we had to rank order a list of items in order of their importance to achieve this goal. At first my group had conflicting notions about what to do. Were we going to stay with the wreckage? Were we going to hike out? Then there was the list of items. Which items were most important to the group? Which item was the least important to the group? But towards the end of the exercise we used synergistic decision making to come up with what we thought would get us to our ultimate goal, which was being seen and being rescued. In our group there were frequent heated exchanges. Some of these exchanges got pretty intense. At times dur... ... middle of paper ... ...nergy is a more effective means of accomplishing a goal. Working together as a group is better than attempts by individuals on their own. However, in my own group’s “Desert Survival” case although we made better decisions as a group, we didn’t always make the right decisions. It became extremely apparent to me that the group did poorly on understanding our personal strengths and weaknesses. But in the end I think my group used the synergistic process very well. Works Cited Morris, W. (Ed.). (1981). The American Heritage dictionary of the English language. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company Harris, Thomas E. & Sherblom, John C (2005). Small Group and Team Communication (3rd). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon Manhattan College Adult Learners’ Guide (2008). Group and Organizational Dynamics. Synergistic Decision Making. Centerville, VA: The Drawing Board

Show More
Related

  • Inter-Professional Reflection

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    By working together there is information sharing, improve safety and quality also collaboration gives knowledge to other professionals. (Littlechild and Smith, 2013).what I have learned through working in partnership with other professionals was creating a poster related to what each professional does. Some of the professionals I did not know how exactly they work together in partnership. Example: I was not aware of how a radiology would work with a social work and the outcome of that was that Radiology develop and maintain collaborative relationship with medical colleagues and participates in regular meetings with other professionals activities to meet the needs of a service users therefore they collaborate with Social Workers. By doing a poster and delivering information I learned a lot from the other team members, shared experiences knowledge and skills with other group members. Group work made me realise how it is very important to work in multi-displinary team, the benefit of it and what others can benefit from. During the poster each of the student was from different professional however we all had the question but each had to look at it in each profession perspectives. This gave an opportunity to everyone to go and search for each professional and communicate with the rest of the group the outcome of the presentation. By doing that, we exchanged ideas learned from each other’s skills and used it into practice. I have learned about sharing information with others, learned about communication and

    Read More

  • Interpersonal and Small Group Communication

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    As I planed to take this class, I thought this course would be like all other general education courses. I believed that it would be of little use to me. However, after attending the first class, my view has changed completely. I applied each and every theory to my life.

    Read More

  • Importance Of The Army Problem Solving Process

    1426 Words  | 3 Pages

    Identification of the problem-Herein lies the crucial first step in the Army’s Problem Solving Process. Initially a leader must determine the totality of the given situation, determine where the problem originated, and determine the “Who, What, When, Where and Why” answers to the source of the problem. Gathering of information-This step in the process is the most fluid. Understanding the problem at the user level is critical; therefore, defining the problem in this process is mandatory to ensure that everyone involved understands every facet of the problem statement. Development of criteria-While defining criteria to solve a problem, Army officers form two subsets; a screening set and an evaluation set. The screening set of criteria are parameters set by the leadership attempting to solve a problem to ensure the result of the decision made is a manageable success. The evaluation criteria consists of five validating elements. The elements of the evaluation criteria are; a short title; well defined; and the criteria must be of a standard unit of measure. Additionally, the problem solver must establish a benchmark that allows, the problem solver, to

    Read More

  • Developing an Effective Team

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    Developing and improving the team work in my organization is one of my key responsibilities. I work in a military department with about thirty different personnel. Each individual has certain skills, age, rank, and motivation. These attributes can make my department effective or ineffective.

    Read More

  • Qualities Of An Effective Team Essay

    1718 Words  | 4 Pages

    Effective teams must be developed, not just formed. A group is not a team. Members of a group may sometimes work together, but members of a team always work together. The team need not all be in the same place to be working together. “With a group, the whole is often equal to or less than the sum of its parts; with a team, the whole is always greater” (Oakley, Brent, Felder and Elhajj, 2004). A team, as defined above, has certain characteristics that make it effective. Not all of these traits are present when a team is in the forming stage. Tea...

    Read More

  • Pro-social Behavior

    373 Words  | 1 Pages

    Cooperation or collaboration is the tendency to work together for mutual benefit and is generally contrasted to competition which is working against each other for a larger share of benefits. Cooperation is not always desirable nor is compition always to be deplored. When people are cooperative regardless of how they feel or the other person behaves, they may be exploited and taken advantage of.

    Read More

  • Team Dynamics - Conflict Resolution Strategies

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stewart, G., Manz, C., & Sims, H., (1999). Teamwork and Group Dynamics. New York: Wiley. pp. 70- 125.

    Read More

  • Communication Is the Key to Teamwork

    1963 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are many different benefits to having diverse dynamics within a team. Communication seems to be the key to making the dynamics of a team work. A team is very much an interpersonal relationship with many potential benefits as well as pitfalls. The dynamics can often cause conflict within that team which can negatively affect the team's performance. It is common for people on a team to try to ignore or bury problems due to a desire to not create a scene. This can be very destructive because the issues do not get resolved. There are some specific steps that can be taken to resolve that conflict. When it comes to resolving an issue, the methods of doing so can be as dynamic as the team itself.

    Read More

  • Group Dynamics Case Study

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    how the goals are going to be achieved. In the fourth stage known as performing the team works

    Read More

  • Team Work in the Work Place

    864 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order for a work place to be successful and beneficial to everyone involve in the company, teams needs to be form, and each team must have a goal in mind. Employees must come together to accomplish a common goal. Teamwork will not only benefit those involve in the project but it will also have a huge impact in your business.

    Read More

  • The Difference Between Collaboration Advantage and Collaboration Inertia

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    (Ans) Collaboration can be defined as a process, where two or more people or organizations work together to achieve shared goals by sharing knowledge, learning, and building consensus.

    Read More

  • Group Reflection: The Roles Of Working In A Group

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    We observed the occurrence of synergy as we worked together with a significant deal of cooperation between members of the team. Previously, none of us were found to be dominant in our specific divisions and there are many groups in the presentation with exceptional skills to succeed. But, coming together in this group, we are able to succeed from other groups in presentation while demonstrating the significant synergetic group work. We were not able to win on individual level but our contribution to the group has combined to influence our performance positively and letting us achieve our goal of winning maximum marks. It is important for us to note that we would not be able to gain success in this presentation on individual basis but contributions from each of us combined to let us achieve our goal of gaining maximum marks in this task. We met every two weeks whenever we had our employment classes and these meetings were productive. These meetings went well but they could have been more productive if we had structured a proper schedule for maximising our meeting time. While considering the potentials of our group, our coach informed us that our group can only win if we want to and this caused a positive reaction with the confidence. None of us had any issues of ego and self-centeredness but instead we all wanted our group to perform outstanding. We consistently possess

    Read More

  • My Experience Working in a Group as a Group

    685 Words  | 2 Pages

    Working together with other people for an assignment can be a challenging task in some cases but luckily, I worked well with my group members. The decisions we made were anonymous although we paced ourselves individually when it came to completing our separate parts of the essay. As a group I believe that we connected well on an interpersonal level as all four of us were able to make alterations to any problem together . Furthermore, we did not give each other a chance to get angry at one another as we knew that this would only cause conflict that would disrupt our flow as a group. There was an equal divide in the amount of work that we all did; our contributions were fair and no one was lacking behind. In addition, my group members were great at keeping each other informed if one of us were not able to attend a group meeting; emails were sent out informing us what we missed and ideas that were formulated. Everyone in my group worked according to deadlines and in synchronization with each other; we did not have to nag anyone to complete work or wait on a member to complete their task.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Working Together in Groups and Teams

    1091 Words  | 3 Pages

    Realizing that a group can become a high performance team is important. Accomplishing this goal is invaluable, advantageous and profitable. Once able to operate from a group to the high performing team is a great step into preparation into the big business world. Leaders and members must also realize not only how to accomplish this but that some problems will and can arise from different demographic characteristics and cultural diversity. That is if one is in such a group, which the probability would be quite high.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Teamwork

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    In order for teamwork to be successful in the workplace it involves building a relationship and working with other people. The ability to work as part of a team is one of the most important skills in today’s job market. Working cooperatively and contributing to groups with ideas, and suggestions benefits everyone. A key to team effectiveness

    Read More

More about Achieving Synergy In Small Groups

Open Document