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Factors influencing group dynamics
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Limitations and strengths of group dynamics
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Working in groups can be a very positive or very negative experience. How a group functions together determines how positive or negative that experience becomes. All go through four stages of development, forming, norming, storming, and performing.. Unfortunately for our group, many of the members experienced some of these stages together and other missed out on that opportunity of original growth. Kirst-Ashman and Hull describe these stages as a pattern of development. This allows the group members to see how they are working together but also allows observers to see what stage the group is stuck on. I had hoped for my group to develop past the first stage of development quickly, however as a whole we couldn’t seem to get over this limbo of being a forming or norming group. Our group was not the best functioning, but working together taught me the important pieces of being a group member as well as working within a group. Leadership Choosing week one to be the leader was a strategy for me to get the concrete things done yet still try to make our task as clear as possible. I was aware of the fact that I do not have the strongest personality in the group. I normally just listen unless the topic is something I have strong feelings about. Taking that into account, I tried to make sure everyone in the group had an opportunity to speak. That is the most important thing I look for in a leader, I wanted to make sure my group to experience it as well. I felt that this made the first meeting go pretty smoothly. The topic we agreed on involved discussing the positives and negatives we would be facing during our field placements. On the first class, everyone seemed very uptight and nervous about how field was going to work and what sit... ... middle of paper ... ...be in that role rather than keeping to myself. If my group sees me as a leader I immediately feel as if I need to step up and meet their expectations. It allows me to gain a little more confidence that I normally lack in group settings. On the other hand, if I am not identified as a leader but instead just another member, I often fall right back into my shy self. When the discussion is interesting to me I am generally more outgoing and talk-a-tive. When I have more information to bring to the table it allows me to see how I am a useful group member. Knowing my strengths and weaknesses within groups will be extremely helpful for me while in the field. After learning how important group work is to clients I hope to be able to work to make groups available throughout my internship. Knowing my weaknesses makes me more aware of how to try and change them in the future.
of the members were given and we were asked to finish a project on a
Bruce Tuckman maintains that there are four stages of group development, forming, storming, norming, and performing. These stages are all essential and unavoidable in order for a group to mature, overcome challenges, find solutions, plan work, and produce effective results. (University of Washington, 2013)
Mode Two or Groupwork literally centers on groups, irrespective of whether they are groups designed for therapeutic, educational or administrative purposes for example parent education or personal/social skills education (AASW, 2008).
Having now completed my group work task, I can look back and reflect upon the process that my group went thought it get to the presentation end point. Firstly my group had to form (Kottler, Englar-Carlson 2010 p.93). There are many theories on how groups come together and the stages they go though. Tuckman is a commonly used theories due to the simple nature of his five stage theory. Tuckman believes that in order for a group to form they must go through his five stages: forming, storming, norming and performing (Tuckman 1965 p.17). In 1977 along side Jensen Tuckman added mourning to his process.
According to former American Businessman, Henry Ford, he describes working as a team as, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” When working with a group there will always be struggles and roadblocks that could lead your group to any form of success. However, it takes a successful group leader who is able to keep the group working together to reach the common goal as working as one. This paper will demonstrate the integration and understanding of group dynamics and structure. I have selected the Delta Alpha Pi Honor Society to discuss the following five main principles in each group: the purpose of the group, the individuals and their roles of the group, the structure and the norms that
The forming, storming, norming, performing model of team development was first introduced by Bruce Tuckman in 1965. He argued that these phases are all necessary and inevitable for the team growth, overcoming challenges and tackling problems, finding solutions, planning work and delivering results. Tuckman later added a fifth phase, adjourning, which is referred to by some as the mourning stage, which involves completing the task and breaking up the team. (Wikipedia, 2005) All teams, whether social, academic, or professional go through these five phases during team development (more permanent teams may not immediately face the adjourning phase) either consciously or subconsciously and the cycles are repeated throughout the life of the team.
According to Toseland and Rivas (2005), group dynamics are “the forces that result from the interactions of group members” (p. 64). These forces refer to either the negative or positive influences towards meeting members’ socioemotional needs as well as goal attainment within a group (Toseland & Rivas, 2005), like within my class work group experience. Some of dynamics that continue to emerge and develop in my group is the effective interaction patterns and strong group cohesion, which has generated positive outcomes and group achievement thus far.
During the 2015 fall semester, four students came together for the fulfillment of a requisite class for graduation under the executive Master’s program of Management of Technology. To their surprise they would not be allowed to work with their partners of choice but among three strangers. This condition led the students to the execution of intuitive collaboration practices under which a sense of community grew towards reaching their individual and group goals.
Working in a group can be very challenging, but the job must get done. For a semester I worked with a group completing many projects and presentations together. These assignments helped me learn what to expect in the working world, when working with others. I acquired a lot of knowledge about working with groups from this one semester. I mastered the element, conflict, the key to any successful group. Even though my group went through many hard times, we always seemed to get the work done. My group had a large variety of perspectives and beliefs, so that did spark a lot of disagreements.
“Informal groups have a powerful influence on the effectiveness of an organization, and can even subvert its formal groups. But, the informal group’s role is not limited to resistance. The impact of the informal group upon the larger formal group depends on the norms that the informal group sets. So the informal group can make the formal organization more effective, too.” Informal groups can either be a manager’s best friend or worst enemy. Group Development: The Formation of Informal Work Groups Informal work groups are part of any working environment; how they form, the leadership within the group and how these groups communicate, follow the same basic model. “Groups are particularly good at combining talents and providing innovate solutions to possible unfamiliar problems.” “There are five stages of group development. The first is forming,which is where the group first comes together. Everyone is usually polite. Conflict is seldom voiced directly. Individuals will be guarded in their own opinions and reserved.” The second form of developmentis “storming a chaotic vying for leadership and trailing of group operates.” The third is norming as the second stage evolves the rules of engagement for the group becomes established, and the scopes of the group’s task or responsibilities are clear and agreed. Fourth is performing,not all groups reach this point. Everyone knows each other well enough to be able to work together. And the fifth stage is adjourning; this is about the completion and disengagement of the tasks and group members. The formations of informal work groups are employed by an organization to perform specific functions. Informal groups almost always arise ...
We do group works all the time either in a class project or work assignment. One thing I like about this class is its ability to apply the theory we learn in class into real-life work and to reflect on things we usually won’t think twice about. I have three expectations for this class: 1. How to utilize the advantages of the team member and use it toward the best interest of the team.? 2. How to be a team leader? 3. Does different teams requires different efforts and characteristics or is there one universal formula that works wonder on all kinds of team? My goal is that I can feel more comfortable and more confident in the future when I participate in group processes.
Kongvongxay, M. & Chatillion, R. (2013). Tuckman’s Five Stages of Group Development. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/perspectum/5-stages-of-group-development-norms-tuckman-16474067
This turned out to be the positive group experience for me and other group members. The team was sufficiently strong from the very beginning through the development phase to the end without any incident of conflict and disagreement. Every group member is reliable and understands their roles working in a group. They also understand the significance of progressing collectively towards the shared and common goal. In other words, our group reflected the synergy by the association we held with each other as a team and, thus, reflecting an example of being a successful
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.
When first being introduced to a group, it can be quite stressful trying to figure out how you and your team members are going to function together. As with any group, there are a few milestones that need to be reached in order to ensure a functional and successful relationship. Specifically, groups need to go through Tuckman’s Group Development Stages. These stages consist of forming, storming, norming, performing, and in some scenarios, a final stage of adjourning may be reached. After participating in this assignment, we as a group were easily able to identify, and analyze, each stage of our development.