Organizational Psychology: Teamwork

As individuals we make our own choices, decided on what we agree and disagree on, learn from our mistakes, and learn to evaluate a situation when we are wrong. However, in a group the same approach can be taken but it doesn't necessarily mean it will work. Teams are made up of a large group of individuals who each have their own opinion and whose opinions others might not see. Instead of making your own choice, a group choice has to be made where compromises must be formed and unfortunately not everyone will agree with the decision at times. This Organizational Psychology course really tested individuals “teamwork skills” in the most challenging of way, that being to depend on the cooperation of the members in your group because a major part of your grade depended on your groups’ success. On the day groups were assigned the first thing that popped into mind was “Great now I have to do all the work” and that was followed by “please don't let there be any social loafers in my group”. Once a group is assigned its permanent members the real evaluation begins.
Perceptual Differences
When joining a group there are bound to be members who have different opinions and who are unwilling to settle or form a compromise. Organizational power is of great importance to an individual who is accustomed to working alone. Cobb’s Episodic Model of Power is a model that I used for myself when trying to negotiate how I believed things should be run and how at the same time I had to incorporate everyone’s opinion to the subject as well.
For example, one of the first meetings my group and I had together was to discuss what the name of our group should be and to come up with a logo. I took the initiative and suggested we go around and stated one thing e...

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... an effective group.
Effectiveness
The effectiveness of the group was usually based on the objective versus subjective performance criteria. My group definitely developed throughout the semester. We started off strong; we had goals and were willing to put in the work needed to do well. As the semester continued it became harder and harder to keep up with work but we tried our best and were successful. As a whole I truly believe my group did well and I’m so honored to have been on the members on the Tea-Rex team. Personally I would like to improve my stress level and I believe if I can keep that on check I’ll probably be able to function better. Taking this course not only introduced me to Organizational Psychology and the realization that I will be using it everyday from this day forward but it also introduced to group of strangers that I can now call my friends.