Enhancing Group Performance

1216 Words3 Pages

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

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