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Theory of group behavior
Advantages and disadvantages of group development
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Question 1 There are critics of the five‐stage group development model. Their main point is that this presentation of a group’s development is too static. Do you agree with this criticism? Why? Numerous critics of the five-stage model of group development contend the model is too static to accurately describe the progression of groups. In their review of the literature, Hurt and Trombley (2007) point out several deficiencies in the model. The model assumes that all groups progress linearly through five stages (forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning). Critics suggest the model fails to describe groups that do not follow a linear progression. The model also assumes that groups must complete one stage before entering into the next stage, implying that tasks may not be completed. In addition, critical reviews of the model suggest that it ignores a more circular systems perspective. This systems perspective would allow the group to learn from mistakes and be more successful as a whole through the use of “inputs, outputs, throughputs, and a feedback loop” (Hurt & Trombley, 2007, p. 3). The five-stage group development model does provide some understanding of the group process, but it seems too rigid to fully explain how groups with diverse individuals form and work together. In that respect, I would have to agree with some of the criticisms of this model. Human beings are by their nature dynamic, not static. Therefore, I question if it is realistic to portray group development in a completely linear, static manner. An individual’s behavior may vary depending on the group’s particular goals and the behavior of the other individuals in the group. Groups have unique personalities depending upon how the all the members interact with each other. For example, it may be possible that some groups skip the storming stage characterized by arguing, conflict, debate, and experimenting with roles (Gibson, Ivancevich, Donnelly & Konopaske, 2012) when some strong-willed individuals unilaterally take over the leadership roles. The model’s assumption that groups do not focus on goals until the performing stage may also be unrealistic. Individuals who are already highly motivated and highly focused on a particular goal from the start may come together and form a group. Group development may also vary based on how important the goal is perceived to be by individual members of the group. It is hard to predict exactly how each group of unique individuals will interact with each other and progress through group development stages.
In this level, we are switching from individual behavior to group behavior. A group is define as two or more individual, interacting and interdependent who are initially coming together to achieve particular objectives (Stephen P.Robbins, Timothy A.Judge, 2014). There are two types of group which are formal group and informal group (Stephen P.Robbins, Timothy A.Judge, 2014). Group can bring a lot of advantages to all the group members. For instance, work as a group is able to generate positive synergy through coordinated effort that allows organization to increase performance.
Team A concluded that Bruce Tuckman’s 1965 Team Development Model provides one of the best descriptions of group dynamics. It represents the typical group stages experienced by Team A members as they have participated on University of Phoenix teams. It also describes the typical evolution described by Team A members from their team activities at work and social activities. While the group dynamics evolve, changes also take place within the individuals who participate on teams. This is most clearly observed in University of Phoenix teams where individual team members only share a personal goal of achieving a degree. They are not employed by the same company, members of a particular political or social organization, or share other ties. They come from varied backgrounds, countries, and socioeconomic experiences. When forced by the University to work as a team, the members evolve through a predictable process that mimics Tuckman’s Model.
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)
Topics explored with this group included; conversational skills, internet safety, bullying, conflict resolution, social media, and personal appearance. Accordingly, I was able to gain insight on how to plan activities tailored to the needs of the group as well as obtain tips on conducting groups effectively. Additionally, I was able to get a sense of the group dynamics, attain knowledge on the stages of a group through observing all the individuals belonging to the group, their uniqueness and how their personality impacted the group itself. Individuals were able to join the group at different stages hence; the forming stage was repeated each time a new member was recruited. This also provided me with the opportunity of gaining first-hand experience of the interaction on the basic dynamics on group stages of forming, norming, storming and
It is important to distinguish the difference between teams and groups. The main difference is that teams work altogether toward a common goal whereas groups can work altogether but for their own objective. It is important to highlight that a group does not necessary need a leader to follow but a team does and this leader will set directions to achieve the goal. In teams people are more committed as they share their ideas, they know the purpose of what they are doing and what the others are doing, they understand better individual objectives and team objectives whereas in groups, generally people are just told what they have to do without further explanations. Because in a team people get to know each other, it builds trust and enhances communication but in groups, people do not really know each other, do not trust or communicate effectively with each other. In teams it is frequent to see constructive conflict as people talk more openly and more honestly but in group it is quite rare. Eventually, people in teams are more involv...
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 through. Tuckman is a commonly used theory due to the simple nature of his five stage theory. Tuckman believes that in order for a group to form they must go through five stages: forming, storming, norming and performing (Tuckman 1965 p.17). In 1977, alongside Jensen, Tuckman added mourning to his process.
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.
I felt collected and enthused to start. However, it did take me some time to display my confidence within the group and encourage discussion. This can be explained by 'Bruce Tuckman 's ' model (1965) , which consists of five components: forming, storming, norming,
The first stage in developing a team as it relates to group dynamics is forming, this is the stage where team members come together and they question what they are therefore, who else is a part of the team, who they are comfortable with, and this enables them to get involved as well as allowing the team the opportunity to introduce themselves to each other. The second stage is storming, and in this stage the team members begin to voice their opinions and differences as well as align themselves with others who share their same beliefs. This is an important stage for the team because team members will begin to become more involved with one another, and when they voice their concerns, they can feel like they are being represented and understood. The third stage is norming in the stage team members begin to establish a shared common commitment to the purpose of why the team is there, where they can establish their overall goals and how the goals are going to be achieved. In the fourth stage, known as performing, the team works effectively and efficiently to gather towards achieving the goal.
Even though we are all categorized in to groups from the day were conceived. We can still create our own group, and whether are not you create your own group or if it was chosen for you there will be effective and ineffective aspects of that group. Base the circumstances that each individual’s values and beliefs are different. Further more, participation and similarity of other group members and the goals of the group will also affect the group dynamic.
It is apparent that the only thing constant in business is change. Organizational change is often an overwhelming challenge for business leaders, managers and employees alike. The need for change may be the result of market shifts, economic environment, technology advancements or changing work force skill-set demands. Today Organizational change occurs for reasons that originate external to the organization (Chandler, 1996: Hannan & Freeman, 1984), as well as internal to the organization (Baker 1990: Prechel 1994). Thus, External constraints, internal constraints, resource dependency and increasingly growing competitive markets force organizations to change in order to maximize economic potential. Although organizational changes are usually a response in reaction to an event, companies and leaders should still expect to encounter issues. Organizations need to be more proactive and contingent on how to handle the problems that will inevitably come about. This will make the process of organizational change go smoothly as well as reduce resistance through proper management techniques. Resource dependency argues that both environmental and organizational constraints impact organizational change (Pfeffer & Salancik, 2003).
The formation of organization implies that a leader should take the role to control the activities of the group; the work done by the leader is what we call management.
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.
Formation of groups or teams is not something that occurs overnight. Because it involves human beings that come from various backgrounds with different sets of values, forming a group and anticipating them to integrate and function dynamically cannot be expected to
have more of a major effect on the company's health. Irving Burstiner was quoted in in The