Members Of An Effective Group example essay topic

INTRODUCTION Groups are an important fact of organizational life. The strength of an integrated group is always greater than the aggregate might of the individuals forming part of it. This is termed as "synergy". Whether Groups are formal groups or informal groups; the hope is that productivity, creativity, and results will be greater in a group environment.

You may have a group of people who are each good performers in their own right. However, when they get on the same group, the whole is not as effective and productive as the sum of their parts. There are a lot of factors can cause this. There could be personality conflicts. There could be lack of communication. Or there could be poor work process.

As a manager, what should you do when confront these issues? Effective teams can dramatically improve productivity, increase employee involvement, improve morale and enhance creativity. This essay will discuss the key elements for managing and enhancing group effectiveness with group dynamics. Group effectiveness - The extent to which a group accomplishes the goals it sets for itself.

Group dynamics - The forces operating in groups that affect group performance and member satisfaction. Stage of group development Groups generally pass through a standardized sequence in their evolution. Forming In the Forming stage, members cautiously explore the boundaries of acceptable group behaviour. This is a stage of transition from individual to member status, it completes when members begin to think themselves as part of a group. There will be difficulty in identifying some of the relevant problems. Because there is so much going on to distract members' attention in the beginning, the team accomplishes little, if anything, that concerns its project goals.

This is perfectly normal. Storming As members accept the group then they will feel the constraints impose on themselves. All members have their own ideas as to how the process should look. Storming is probably the most difficult stage for the group.

Members argue about just what actions the group should take. They try to rely solely on their personal and professional experience, and resist collaborating with most of the other group members. During this stage group members have little energy to spend on progressing towards the group's goal. But they are beginning to understand one another. As this stage complete, there will be a clear hierarchy of leadership within group. Forming During this stage, members reconcile competing loyalties and responsibilities.

They accept the group, group rules, their roles in the group, and the individuality of fellow members. Emotional conflict is reduced as previously competitive relationships become more cooperative. As team members begin to work out their differences, they now have more time and energy to work for the goal. Performing The structure at this point is fully functional and acceptable. Team members have discovered and accepted each other's strengths and weakness, and learned what their roles are. Group energy has move from getting to know to perform the task.

To this stage, the group is an effective, cohesive unit. A manager can tell when a group has reached this stage because there starts getting a lot of work done. What is an effective group? The success of organizations as complex networks of interlocking groups depends on how these groups perform. Like individual, groups must be success for the organization to prosper over the long run. But just what does it mean a!

^0 good! +/- group? This question is important to any manager who cares build up an effective group. The figure above shows that there are two outputs from group activity cycle: - The achievement of objectives set (on time, acceptable quality standards, within budget) - Member satisfaction (recognition of effort by other group members and organization, encouragement in their efforts) It imply that effectiveness should be measured against both of these criteria. An effective group is a group that achieves high levels of both task performance and human resource maintenance; that is the members of an effective group accomplish their task goals and maintain positive working relationships with one another. An effective group gets its job done and takes good care of its member in the process.

In terms of task performance, an effective group achieves its performance goals in the standard sense of timely and high-quality work results. In terms of human resource maintains, an effective group is one whose members are sufficiently satisfied with their task, accomplishments and interpersonal relationships. A group could be productive and achieve its objectives, but the members may not enjoy the experience or feel for them personally. Conversely, the individuals could have a good time through the group experience, but the group fail to achieve anything in relation to the objectives set. For example, members that are forced to work in the area they don't like may achieve the objectives set. However, Morale among group members was very low and they felt!

(R) driven' in their work. This example falls quite clearly into the category of group success (among the management) measured by financial results, but with low personal satisfaction. Factors affecting group effectiveness Group is just like a system. All the factors in this system may affect the group output-effectiveness.

In Figure 1.1, there shows the factors affecting the group performance: environment, group member resource, group structure, group process, and group task - Environment factor: physical setting, function of group, interrelation with other groups - Group factor: ability of members, personality characteristics, roles, norms, status, size, composition, cohesiveness - Group task: nature of task, difficulty of task, resources needed - Intermediate variables: leadership, motivation, membership participation Environment Factor Groups perform their task within a particular organizational environment. Every organization has its own culture and ways of working. Environment variables cover physical setting, function of group and interrelation with other groups. Physical setting includes equipment (e.g. PC, tools).

Group Factor Ability of members and personality characteristics A group's potential level of performance depends, to a large extent, on the resources that its members individually bring to the group. So ability of members (including knowledge and skill) and personality characteristics are especially important to individual performance. Composition The composition of a group plays an important role in determining group productivity. (Shaw, Group Dynamics) The team composition should be designed to meet the needs of the situation. Most group activities require a variety of skills and knowledge. Given this requirement, it would be reasonable to conclude that heterogeneous groups-those composed of dissimilar individuals-would be more likely to have diverse abilities and information and should be more effective.

Norm Norms are acceptable standards of behavior that are shared by the group members. Norms tell everyone what they ought to do, and what they ought not to do. They tell what is expected of you in certain situations. When agreed to and accepted by the group, norms act as a means of influencing the behavior of group's members with a minimum of external controls. Norms serve four purposes: 1. help the group survive 2. simplify and make more predictable the behaviors expected of group members 3. help the group avoid embarrassing situation 4. express the central values of the group and identify the group to others.

Status A socially defined position or rank given to groups or group members by others. Group Size The larger the group the more complex the communication process is. As group size increase, the members's satisfaction decreases. The time to reach a decision increases with size and there is a tendency for factions (or subgroups) to form within a group. Social loafing is the tendency of some group members not to put force as much effort in a group situation as they would work alone. (Nigel Nicholson, The Blackwell encyclopedic dictionary of organizational behavior, 1995) Manager should decide the optimum group size depends on the context and group goals.

Cohesiveness The degree to which members are attracted to each other and motivated to stay in the group. (J. KeyTon, Small Group Research, 1900) Some group are cohesive because members have spend quite a lot of time together; or the group's small size facilitates high interaction; or the group has experienced external treats that have brought members close together. Cohesiveness is important because it has been found to be related to the group's productivity. (C.R. Evens and K.L. Dion, small group research, 1994) There are several ways for manager to encourage group cohesiveness (1) make group smaller; (2) encourage agreement with group goals; (3) increase the time members stay together; (4) increase the status of the group and the perceived difficulty of attaining membership in the group; (5) simulate competition with other groups; (6) give rewards to the group rather than individual; (7) physically isolate the group. (J.L. Gibson and J.M. Ivancevih, organization, 1994) Group Task Tasks can be generalized as either simple or complex. Simple task require little interdependence. So a group with poor communication, poor leadership, and high levels of conflict still may be effective. While complex tasks require more information processing.

Only high performance teams can implement the tasks effectively. Intermediate variables Leadership Leadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals. Groups need strong leadership for optimum effectiveness. Good leadership helps manager create efficient organizational structures and oversee day-to-day operation. Group task motivation It is the process of account for an individual's intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining group task goals. The impact of group process on the group's performance and member satisfaction is also moderated by the tasks that the group is doing.

The evidence indicates that the complexity and interdependence of tasks influence the group effectiveness. (J.R. Hackman, Advanced in Experimental social Psychology, 1975) A common purpose Effective teams have a common and meaningful purpose that provides direction, momentum, and commitment for members. (K. Hess, Creating the high performance, 1987). A common purpose provides direction and guidance under any and all conditions. Conflict "Conflicts are part of individual relationships and organizational development, and no relationship or organization can hope to mature to productivity and be successful without being able to resolve conflicts effectively" (Cott ringer, 1997, p. 6). Clearly, one of the main responsibilities of any manager or group leader is to resolve conflict. The two key goals for a group leader are to remain impartial, and to facilitate understanding among the group members. "As a team leader, one must realize the paradox that surrounds conflict.

The team needs to embrace conflict as a means of generating and evaluating ideas. While at the same time, it must shy away from it to prevent anger, frustration, or alienation. The biggest challenge for the team leader is figuring out how to balance these two forces" (Brockmann, 1996, p. 61) (Brockmann, Erich. (1996, May).

Removing the paradox of conflict from group decisions. Academy of Management Executive. vs. 10 n 2, p. 61-62. ). Proper conflict level can increase the communication among team members. So not all types of conflicts are bad, some can actually improve team effectiveness. Tools to Overcome Conflict There are many ways to handle conflict constructively.

"Using situational leadership with teams is an excellent way to overcome conflict and move forward", says Warren. Here are some additional steps you can teach your team members: 1. Attack the problem, not the person. 2. Focus on what can be done, not on what can't be done. 3.

Encourage different points of view and honest dialogue. 4. Express your feelings in a way that does not blame. 5. Accept ownership for your part of the problem. 6.

Listen to understand the other person's point of view before giving your own. 7. Show respect for the other person's point of view. 8. Solve the problem while building the relationship. Team efficacy Effective teams have confidence in themselves.

They believe they can success. This is called team efficacy. Success breeds success. Success can motivate group members to work harder. So as a manager, you can help them achieve small success to build confidence. And you can provide training to improve members' ability and interpersonal skill.

Improving in skill can also help them develop confidence. An Effective Group Characteristics of effective group: o Has a clear understanding of its goals: overall and immediate. o Is flexible in selecting its procedure as it works toward its goals. o Has achieved a high degree of communication and understanding among its members. Communication of personal feelings and attitudes as well as ideas occurs in direct and open fashion because it is considered important to the work of the group. o Is able to initiate and carry out an effective decision-making, carefully considering minority viewpoints and securing the commitment of all members to important decisions. o Achieves an appropriate balance between group productivity and the satisfaction of individual needs. o Provides for sharing of leadership responsibilities. o Has a high degree of cohesiveness (attractiveness to its members). o Makes intelligent use of the differing abilities if its members. o Can be objective about reviewing its own processes. Can face problems and adjust to needed modification. o Maintains a balance between emotional and rational behaviour, channelling emotionally into productive group effort. Creating effective group How group become effective Group effectiveness involves success in transforming a variety of inputs into outputs. The foundations of group effectiveness begin with the presence of right inputs.

1) Setting appropriate team tasks 2) Choose team members carefully, having regard to individual skill, personality 3) Developing trust - Model trusting behavior - Create culture 4) Keeping lines of communication open To be effective, a group must interact effectively. Proper level conflict can actually improve communication. 5) Acting innovative ly Doing work in a different way 6) Providing appropriate support a) information b) resources c) such as training may be needed d) opportunities for the team to build itself before & during the project arrangements to monitor & inform the group over the project period Once teams are mature and performing effectively, management's job isn't over. This is because mature teams can become stagnant and complacent. Managers need to support mature groups with advice, guidance, and training if these teams are to continue improve. CONCLUSION Organizational performance and satisfaction derived by individuals are influenced by the interaction among members of the group.

Groups add strength to the individual leading to the proverbial statement that "Unity is Strength". A group of four persons working in perfect coordination can achieve much more than what they would have been if performing individually and separately. Different leadership leads to different group effectiveness. An effective group achieves high levels of both task performance and human resources maintenance. With improving group effectiveness, organization can produce better performance. It is important for the manager to know how to manage and improve group effectiveness.

The effective management of work groups requires an understanding of the psychological and social influence on behaviour within organizations. Improve group effectiveness not only mean achieve higher task performance but also attain higher level of human resource maintenance. Leaders in the organizations should learn how to manage group effectively. In this essay we have introduced some of the main issues surrounding the ways in which groups operate and achieve success. As managers seek to improve the performance of their organizations the levels of effectiveness of the groups within them becomes a more critical factor.

Groups can have a major impact on their members. In the work place we must recognize that groups can influence people's work attitude and behaviours. A prime managerial concern is to help groups influence these attitudes and behaviour I positive ways.

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