Enhancing Group Performance
Organisational psychologists have been interested in seeing whether
random selection of leaders or the usual systematic selection of
leaders leads to greater task performance and greater group
cohesiveness (also known as group maintenance). Finding significant
results here would be beneficial in the workplace if the problem of
random selection vs. formal selection is solved as it would help
increase group harmony and productivity.
The findings of previous research have been varied. In a study very
similar in method and aims to this present study found that the random
selection of leaders leads to greater task performance. ( Haslam, S.A.,
McGarty, C., Brown, P.M., Eggins, R.A., Morrison, B.E., & Reynolds,
K.J. (1998). Three experiments were done in this study using the same
survival task used in this present study. The first two experiments
measured task performance and group maintenance by manipulating the
process of leadership selection (random, informal and formal). The
third experiment confirmed that society holds the view that formal
selection is better than random selection of leaders, hence explaining
the reduced group maintenance in groups with randomly selected leaders
since they perceived the process of leadership selection to be less
legitimate. This third experiment was counterintuitive and was done by
naïve participants which justified the findings of the first two
experiments that task performance was better yet group maintenance was
poorer in randomly selected groups.
Another study (Sosik, John, J., Avolio, Bruce, J., Kahai, Surinder,
S.(1997) found that anonymity had a positive effect for
transformational leadership on group effectiveness( similar to task
performance). Anonymity in this case refers to group members being
unidentified by the group leader on the GDSS system (the internal
computer system measuring group potency and group effectiveness). The
variables manipulated were the types of leadership (transactional and
transformational) and group potency and group effectiveness were
measured. This study shows that there is a direct correlation in the
leadership style and task performance which in our study could be
determined to be different in random or formal selection of leaders
Group facilitation is an art of surfacing and stimulating a constructive dialogue within a group of people and providing guidance towards the group’s purpose and goal (Fierro, 2016). My group’s facilitation process took place on Wednesday, November 2, 2016. The topic of the article we discussed was “Cognitive-behavioural and other psychological techniques in the dietetic consultation: Suggestions for practice”. This article focuses on the use of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) by dieticians in helping obese clients achieve their weight loss, physical activity and diet goals. There were 11 participants in attendance, seated in a circular formation.
After watching a herd of buffalo respond to a crisis on a video segment called "The Battle at Kruger,” I realized group cohesion was perfectly illustrated by a herd of buffalo. In the video, the buffalo are grazing in a field. Lying in wait is a pride of lions. As with most predatory species, the lions look for the best opportunity for food. When the buffaloes first happen upon the lions, their initial instinct is to scatter or respond individually. That’s when the baby buffalo becomes vulnerable when the lions pounce. The lions overtake the baby and bring it down. To make matters worse, the lions trap the baby near a body of water where crocodiles lurk. Now it becomes a battle between the lions and the crocodile for who is having dinner. The pride of lions emerges victorious over the crocodile and gets the baby buffalo back. However, the most amazing thing happens, the herd comes back for its own. As the video clip progresses, the viewers in the background keep exclaiming, "You're too late! You're too late!" It's a lion ‘dog’ pile on top of one defenseless young buffalo and all hope seems lost. But the herd demonstrates cohesion and comes back for the baby with a few brave ones confronting the lions directly. The baby does his part and struggles to get free and runs for safety to the middle of the herd. What seemed like an impossible situation becomes one of great victory. This is one instance where having a “herd mentality” can be a good thing. If buffalo can come together cohesively and perform well under extreme circumstances, surely people can, too. The purpose of this paper is to explore how cohesion forms and how it affects performance.
Lord, R. (2000). Leadership. In A. E. Kazdin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology, vol. 4. (pp. 499-505). Doi:10.1037/10519-216
Tost, L., Gino, F., & Larrick, R. P. (2013). When power makes others speechless: the negative impact of leader power on team performance. Academy Of Management Journal, 56(5), 1465-1486. doi:10.5465/amj.2011.0180
In today’s workforce being able to work within the confinement of a team atmosphere is a reality. Many employers believe that collectively working together to achieve the same goal. If you are able to achieve this it is known as “Synergy” or the power of teamwork when the group is greater than the sum of its parts. Although this doesn’t always occur in teams it can be contributed to the amount of members on the team. Depending on the task that is given to a team they will need to determine the number of members that will make up the team. When looking at the sum of the size of the team, psychologist Max Ringleman set up a tug-o-war to learn the estimated amount of power is created (Larsen). One theory states that people actually put in less effort when they think others will take up the slack (Larsen). Another explanation involves so-ordination errors that can be a contributor to the size of the group in generating power. The more people involved, the more likely why are to get in each other’...
Many people believe they are their own person and are free to make their own choices; however, few explore just how much a group can influence their behavior. This realm of influential group power has been analyzed by several psychologist to see how far people will bend to stay within a group mentality. Psychologists Asch, Zimbardo, McEwan, and Lessing defined a group mind as a mass of people who ignore their own morals and conscious to act as one whole entity because of obedience and pressure. As a result, this creates the potential for the group to become a destructively dangerous force.
It is proven that teams who work well together perform and have a higher rate of success compared to teams who do not work well together or communicate with each other. A recent article with regards to leadership discussed the topic of group cohesion and how this is a factor for success. The article discussed several situations, one about a business company, one about a sports team and one about a military operation. The article closely analyzed the leaders of the three situations and discussed the similarities and differences between the three. The main similarity between was there focus on cohesion. The article contained facts about how the business was operating and how that in recent years, production and sales as increased drastically, and one factor for this increase was the CEO implemented a mandatory team building exercise each
Stewart, G., Manz, C., & Sims, H., (1999). Teamwork and Group Dynamics. New York: Wiley. pp. 70- 125.
The Importance of Group Work in Today's Organizations. It could be argued that in order to be successful, modern organisations must actively develop strong and cohesive work groups. Why do you need to be a member? Is it true that there is no room for the individual in today’s organisation? The rapid progression and improvement in information and communication technology has led to modern organisations finding new ways to work.
When working on a group project, there are certain skills that are required to make sure that the tasks are being carried out smoothly. With that in mind, it is critical to keep an open line of communication as well as an understanding of the other individuals in the group. The following scenario is of a group project I was a part of that had a breakdown in the two points expressed above.
Throughout the course of a Master’s counseling program, moments of doubt, and a lack of working knowledge are bound to play a major role in the confidence a future counselor will posses in effectively implementing interventions early on in the instructional phase of his or her career. Corey (2010) states that an effective group leader, is able to become aware of their own vulnerabilities, and take responsibility in their responses. To become aware of a possible vulnerable area, a counselor must first take a concise look into their personal strengths and weakness, and then decide to actively seek out assistance with working on vulnerabilities. In exploring the roles of an effective group leader, I have realized that within the group process, I most fear the roles of a group leader that pertain to direct confrontation of a client, I also fear that the improper implementation of a intervention could lead to potential harm of the client. Attending to these fears I hold regarding group member confrontation, and intervention implementation is the key to gaining further understanding into how I can become comfortable with these essential functions of a group leader. The current paper will take a closer look into my vulnerabilities, using current research to gain insight into how I can overcome fears, when facilitating a task, psycho-educational, counseling, and psychotherapy group.
Lopez-Zafra, E., Garcia-Retamero, R., & Landa, J. M. (2008). The Role of Transformational Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, and Group Cohesiveness on Leadership Emergence. Journal of Leadership Studies , 37-49.
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.
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.
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.